title: Reference amounts utilised in front of package nutrition labelling; impact on product healthfulness evaluations.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The research question addressed in this paper is how different reference amounts utilised in front of package nutrition labelling influence evaluation of product healthfulness.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 13,117 participants from six European countries (Germany, UK, Spain, France, Poland and Sweden) were recruited via online panels. A mixed between/within-subject factorial design was employed with food (biscuits, sandwiches, yogurts), healthfulness and presence of Guideline Daily Amounts as within-subjects factors and reference amount ('per 100 g', 'typical portion', 'half portion') and country as between-subjects factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, people correctly ranked foods according to their objective healthfulness as defined by risk nutrients alone, and could distinguish between more and less healthful variants of foods. General healthfulness associations with the three product categories do not appear to have had a strong influence on product ratings. This study shows that where the reference amount of 'per 100 g' is very different from the 'typical' portion size, as was the case for biscuits, products with a 'per 100 g' label are rated significantly less healthful than the 'typical' or 'half typical' portions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicate that across the three food categories, consumers do factor the reference amount, that is, the quantity of food for which the nutritional information is being presented, into their judgements of healthfulness. Therefore, appropriate reference amounts are also of importance for the effective presentation of nutritional information.
authors.affiliation: Food, Consumer Behaviour and Health Research Centre, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Raats
authors.affiliation: European Food Information Council Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hieke
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Health Sciences-Psychology, Abertay University Dundee, UK.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jola
authors.affiliation: Food, Consumer Behaviour and Health Research Centre, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hodgkins
authors.affiliation: 1] European Food Information Council Brussels, Belgium [2] Alltech, Dunboyne, Ireland [3] UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Population Science, University College Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.affiliation: European Food Information Council Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wills
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D005515:Food Labeling / Q000379:methods*; D005518:Food Preferences; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D009753:Nutritive Value