Scientists at the University of Antwerp have investigated whether an alternative labeling system for food can help consumers better estimate energy values. The classical method (kilocalories) appears to be the most accurate for the time being, although the researchers certainly do not want to write off alternatives.
Figures expressed in kcal/100g are not always the best tool for those who want to eat healthier. Instead of ‘350 kcal’, packaging could just as well state ‘half an hour of cycling’. In other words: what if we no longer thought in terms of kcal, but in terms of the time it takes to burn those calories through exercise?
“People are emotional beings and do not always understand the value of those numbers,” explains marketing professor Nathalie Dens (UAntwerp). “In the supermarket, our primal brain is focused on being rewarded immediately. We are more likely to choose chocolate than fruit. Many people can hardly imagine kilocalories as a unit of measurement.”
Governments have been concerned about obesity for some time. “There are therefore calls for the introduction of a new labeling system: the physical activity calorie equivalent, or PACE,” notes doctor Clara Cutello (University of Antwerp). “That is an alternative label that does not state the number of kcal, but does show how long you have to walk or swim to use that energy.”
For example, if you want to burn a pizza of 780 kcal, you have to walk for 45 minutes. A croissant of 233 kcal corresponds to 20 minutes on the bike. The research by Cutello and her team wanted to determine which labeling system consumers can best use: PACE or the number of kcal.
Nearly two hundred participants were each shown thirty images of food for the study. They had to estimate the number of calories or the PACE value of each product. The participants were tested on three different occasions. Only in the first round were they shown the correct solution after the question.
“The classical counting method turned out to be the more accurate of the two,” Dens concludes. “Respondents are better at estimating the correct number of calories than the duration of the necessary sporting effort.” However, Dens does not want to write off the PACE method. “With both systems you see that with each test moment the estimates become more and more accurate. It proves that consumers have to get used to such a new label system.”
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2024-01-02 12:16:57
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