title: Consumer attitudes and understanding of low-sodium claims on food: an analysis of healthy and hypertensive individuals.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Sodium-related claims on food labels should facilitate lower-sodium food choices; however, consumer attitudes and understanding of such claims are unknown.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We evaluated consumer attitudes and understanding of different types of sodium claims and the effect of having hypertension on responses to such claims.
  
  
  METHODS
  Canadian consumers (n = 506), with and without hypertension, completed an online survey that contained a randomized mock-package experiment, which tested 4 packages that differed only by the claims they carried as follows: 3 sodium claims (disease risk reduction, function, and nutrient-content claims) and a tastes-great claim (control). Participants answered the same questions on attitudes and understanding of claims after seeing each package.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Food packages with any sodium claim resulted in more positive attitudes toward the claim and the product healthfulness than did packages with the taste control claim, although all mock packages were identical nutritionally. Having hypertension increased ratings related to product healthfulness and purchase intentions, but there was no difference in reported understanding between hypertensives and normotensives. In general, participants attributed additional health benefits to low-sodium products beyond the well-established relation of sodium and hypertension.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Sodium claims have the potential to facilitate lower-sodium food choices. However, we caution that consumers do not seem to differentiate between different types of claims, but the nutritional profiles of foods that carry different sodium claims can potentially differ greatly in the current labeling environment. Additional educational efforts are needed to ensure that consumers do not attribute inappropriate health benefits to foods with low-sodium claims. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01764724.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Christina L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: JoAnne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Arcand
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mendoza
authors.forename: Spencer J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Henson
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lou
authors.forename: Mary R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: L'Abbé
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada; D002755:Choice Behavior; D032882:Comprehension; D005260:Female; D005515:Food Labeling / Q000379:methods*; D058870:Food, Organic; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000517:prevention & control*; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D009864:Ontario; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D012982:Sodium, Dietary; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D012982:Sodium, Dietary