Designing In-Person, Real-Choice Experiments to Assess the Potential Effectiveness of New Food Policies

On December 19, 2024, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued the final rule that updates its definition of the healthy nutrient content claim to help consumers identify foods that serve as the foundation of a diet consistent with dietary recommendations. 1 For the first time in the US, an official FDA healthy front-of-package (FOP) label has become available, allowing manufacturers to voluntarily use the label on their food packages if their product meets the updated criteria. 2The study by Fan et al 2 presents a timely assessment of the potential effectiveness of this new foodlabeling policy.Based on an in-person, real-choice experiment conducted in supermarkets in 6 locations in Massachusetts, Fan et al 2 compared the effects of the FDA healthy labeling vs a numeric rating label that incorporates information on nutrients, food ingredients, processing, and additives, namely, the Food Compass Score (FCS; ranging from 1 [least healthful] to 100 [most healthful]), on consumers' choices among 15 snack products.The trial revealed that while both labels increased healthy (FDA healthy or FCS 70) snack purchases and decreased unhealthy ones, the FCS label had significantly larger effects on the likelihood of healthy purchases.