Food labeling can confuse consumers, leading to an under-consumption of calcium, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee study reported.

Researchers found consumers taught how to translate and understand label information consumed more calcium, the university said in a news release. Researchers said they thought the same would be true for other nutrients.

The central question, the study's authors wrote in Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, was: “How do consumers make food consumption decisions when product information falls short of providing the nutritional knowledge needed for personal health consumption goals?”

The answer? Information and the ability to get it easily.

People told they should have 1,000 milligrams of calcium, but only see a “Percent Daily Value” figure on a carton need to know how to convert milligrams to percent daily value, researchers said. In their study, when subjects were given a fact sheet that included a milligrams-to-PDV conversion formula, researchers found the subjects consumed more average daily calcium -- a mean of 1,429.78 milligrams -- than those who did not get the fact sheet -- a mean of 988.24 milligrams.  // Copyright 2007 by United Press International



Publication date: 06 October 2007   

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