Warning Labels on Junk Food?
June 26th, 2011 | posted by vkam
in
They've caused smokers to cringe for decades, and new research suggests warning labels on snack foods will also work to discourage overweight Canadians from making unhealthy choices in the junk-food aisle.
A University of Alberta study presented nearly 400 shoppers with images of brand-name snack foods and asked which products, if any, they would choose at a vending machine. Some of the less nutritious options included a 'sin' tax, an extra cost which is put on unhealthy or harmful products like tobacco and alcohol.
The survey showed that some shoppers were deterred by the tax, but those with larger-than-average BMIs (body mass indexes) less so. Instead, they only held off from buying their favourite snack food if it contained a warning label, which indicated the product had been taxed because of its "less healthy nutritional content."
Those who advocate for a junk-food tax suggest it would reduce the demand on the Canadian healthcare system by lowering obesity rates (currently 60% of adults and 26% of children), and the government could use the tax revenue for health care.
"If you want to raise revenue to pay for health care, then taxing things might be an appealing thing to do," said Sean Cash, an economist and lead researcher on the study.
Gwen Chapman, a professor of food, nutrition and health at the University of British Columbia, said the warning labels would be a useful addition to a sin tax because they act as a "cue to action," reminding people of details they already know, but which aren't at the forefront of their mind.
In this case the reminder is, "this probably isn't the healthiest item around, and you're going to have to pay for it in multiple ways - possibly in terms of your health, but definitely in terms of your pocketbook," said Chapman.
Chapman noted that the tax alone may not motivate shoppers to avoid unhealthy options because it likely won't be obvious to them that they are choosing a taxed item.
"For many of us in Canada, although we may feel that our grocery bills are quite high, food is relatively cheap," she said. "So a small increase in the cost of one particular item may not have much impact on many individuals, if they're not already tightly budgeting their food dollar."
But, Irfan Dhalla, lecturer with the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto and a Fellow with St. Michael's Hospital, said consumers do notice price increases. The University of Alberta study indicates otherwise, because surveys don't always accurately reflect reality, he said.
"They didn't look at how people actually behave. They looked at how people said they would behave," said Dhalla.
In reality, shoppers must answer a whole series of questions before making choices about their food.
"While we might know the health benefits - and we generally try to buy healthy foods - when we're in that grocery store, and our kids are beside us, and they're asking for this, and we're in a rush, and we know we have to go home and make supper, then health might not be at the top of our mind," said Chapman.
The complexity of our food choices can be a major obstacle preventing Canadians from making healthier decisions at the grocery store, said Chapman. For that reason, she supports the use of warning labels in addition to a sin tax.
Dhalla agreed.
"People do respond to labels well," he said. "We've certainly seen evidence of that in the cigarette world."
http://www.torontosun.com/2011/06/23/we
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