Other readers support the concept of improved food labeling but don’t think warnings will work. “There are warning signs on everything, from alcohol to air bags to sofas,” Annette from Virginia wrote. “Don’t you think this will be one more thing that people tune out?”
I posed this question to Christina Roberto, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Psychology of Eating and Consumer Health Lab. Her response: “Show me a policy that influences 100 percent of people. Some people will tune it out, but heck — changing eating behavior is so difficult.”
She argues that nutrition labeling is such a light-touch intervention that even if it influences a small proportion of consumers, it will be cost effective. Indeed, studies from other countries have convincingly shown that warnings can influence purchasing behavior.