Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T19:17:31.813Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Importance of Nutrition Labeling and Health Claim Regulation on Product Choice: An Analysis of the Cooking Oils Market

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

Alan D. Mathios
Alan D. Mathios*
Affiliation:
Department of Policy Analysis and Management, Cornell University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) prohibits health claims for foods containing more than a certain amount of fat per serving. This disqualifier level eliminates health claims for cooking oils since these products have approximately 14 grams of fat per serving, above the acceptable threshold. However, a number of scientific studies indicate that, from a heart-health perspective, cooking oils lower in saturated fat and higher in monounsaturated fats are superior to other oils. Prior to the NLEA, firms actively competed on this basis, with manufacturers of cooking oils making explicit heart-health claims in print advertising and labeling. This study utilizes supermarket scanner data from twenty stores to examine the type of cooking oil chosen by consumers. The results indicate that after implementation of the NLEA, consumers shifted purchases toward cooking oils higher in saturated fat and lower in monounsaturated fat. This study does not address whether consumers changed their total consumption of cooking oil after implementation of the NLEA.

Type
Invited Presentations
Information
Agricultural and Resource Economics Review , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , October 1998 , pp. 159 - 168
Copyright
Copyright © 1998 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bierenbaum, M.L., Reichstein, R.P., Watkins, T.R., Maginnis, W.P., and Geller, M. 1991. “Effects of Canola Oil in Serum Lipids in Humans.” Journal of the American College of Nutrition 10: 228–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brucks, M., Mitchell, A.A., and Staelin, R. 1984. “The Effect of Nutrition Information Disclosure in Advertising: An Information Processing Approach.” Journal of Public Policy and Marketing 3: 1–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cole, C.A., and Balasubramanian, S. 1993. “Age Differences in Consumers' Search for Information: Public Policy Implications.” Journal of Consumer Research 20: 157–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cole, C.A., and Gaeth, G.J. 1990. “Cognitive and Age-Related Differences in the Ability to Use Nutrition Information in a Complex Environment.” Journal of Marketing Research 27: 175–84.Google Scholar
Dawber, T.R., Moore, F.E., and Mann, G.V. 1957. “Coronary Heart Disease in the Framingham Study.” American Journal of Public Health 47 supple. (April) 4–24.Google Scholar
Edwards, C.H. 1995. Emerging Issues in Lifestyle, Social, and Environmental Interventions to Promote Behavioral Change Related to Prevention and Control of Hypertension in the African-American Population.” Journal of the National Medical Association 87: 642–46.Google ScholarPubMed
Fitch, B. 1992. “Monounsaturated Sales Grow.” Inform 3: 666–75.Google Scholar
Ford, G.T., Hastak, H., Mitra, A., and Ringold, D.J. 1996. “Can Consumers Interpret Nutrition Information in the Presence of a Health Claim? A Laboratory Investigation.” Journal of Public Policy and Marketing 15: 16–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grundy, S.M. 1997. “What Is the Desirable Ratio of Saturated, Polyunsaturated, and Monounsaturated Fatty Acids in the Diet?” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 66(4 suppl.): 988S–90S.Google Scholar
Heimback, J.T., and Stokes, R.C. 1982. “Nutrition Labeling and Public Health: Survey of American Institute of Nutrition Members, Food Industry, and Consumers.” Journal of Clinical Nutrition 36: 200–208.Google Scholar
Hegstead, D.M., McGandy, R.B., Myers, M.L., and Stare, F.I. 1965. “Quantitative Effects of Dietary Fat on Serum Cholesterol in Man.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 17: 281–95.Google Scholar
Ippolito, P.M., and Mathios, A.D. 1990. “Information, Advertising, and Health Choices: A Study of the Cereal Market.” RAND Journal of Economics 21: 459–80.Google Scholar
Ippolito, P.M., and Mathios, A.D. 1993. “New Food Regulations and the Flow of Nutrition Information to Consumers.” Journal of Public Policy and Marketing 12: 188–205.Google Scholar
Ippolito, P.M., and Mathios, A.D. 1995. “Information and Advertising: The Case of Fat Consumption in the United States.” American Economic Review 85(2): 91–95.Google Scholar
Keys, A., Anderson, J.T., and Grande, F. 1957. “Prediction of Serum-Cholesterol Responses of Man to Changes in Fats in the Diet.” Lancet 2: 959–66.Google Scholar
Lenahan, R.J., Thomas, J.A., Taylor, D.A., Call, D.L., and Padberg, D.I. 1973. “Consumer Reaction to Nutrition Labels on Food Products.” Journal of Consumer Affairs 7: 1–12.Google Scholar
Lipworth, L., Martinez, M.E., Angell, J., Hsieh, C.C., and Tricholpoulos, D. 1997. “Olive Oil and Human Cancer: An Assessment of the Evidence.” Preventive Medicine 26: 181–90.Google Scholar
McFadden, D. 1974. “The Measurement of Urban Travel Demand.” Journal of Public Economics 3: 308–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maddala, G.S. 1983. Limited-Dependent and Qualitative Variables in Econometrics. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Morgan, S.A., O'Dea, K., and Sinclair, A.J. 1997. “A Low-Fat Diet Supplemented with Monounsaturated Fat Results in Less HDL-C Lowering Than a Very Low-Fat Diet.” Journal of the American Dietetic Association 97: 151–56.Google Scholar
Muller, T. 1985. “Structural Information Factors Which Stimulate the Use of Nutrition Information: Field Experiment.” Journal of Marketing Research 22: 130–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nydahl, M., Gustafsson, I.B., Ohrvall, M., and Vessby, B. 1995. “Similar Effects of Rapseed Oil (Canola Oil) and Olive Oil in a Lipid-Lowering Diet for Patients with Hyperlipoproteinemia.” Journal of the American College of Nutrition 14: 643–51.Google Scholar
Patterson, B.H., Kessler, L.G., and Wax, Y. 1992. “Evaluation of a Supermarket Intervention.” Evaluation Review 16: 464–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russo, J.E., Staelin, R., Nolan, C., Russell, G., and Metcalf, B. 1986. “Nutrition Information in the Supermarket.” Journal of Consumer Research 13: 48–70.Google Scholar
Schucker, R., Levy, A.S., Tenney, J.E., and Matthews, O. 1992. “Nutrition Shelf Labeling and Consumer Purchase Behavior.” Journal of Nutrition Education 24: 75–81.Google Scholar
U.S. Surgeon General. 1988. Report on Nutrition and Health, Department of Health and Human Services. DHHS (PHS) Publication no. 88-50210. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Willett, W.C. 1997. “Specific Fatty Acids and Risks of Breast and Prostate Cancer: Dietary Intake.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 66 (6 suppl.): 1557S–63S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zarkin, G.A., Dean, N., Mauskopf, J.A., and Williams, R. 1993. “Potential Health Benefits of Nutrition Label Changes,” American Journal of Public Health 83: 717–24.Google Scholar