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The Importance of Nutrition Labeling and Health Claim Regulation on Product Choice: An Analysis of the Cooking Oils Market

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  • Mathios, Alan D.

Abstract

The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) prohibits health claims for foods containing more than a certain amount of fat per serving. This disqualifier level eliminates health claims for cooking oils since these products have approximately 14 grams of fat per serving, above the acceptable threshold. However, a number of scientific studies indicate that, from a heart-health perspective, cooking oils lower in saturated fat and higher in monounsaturated fats are superior to other oils. Prior to the NLEA, firms actively competed on this basis, with manufacturers of cooking oils making explicit heart-health claims in print advertising and labeling. This study utilizes supermarket scanner data from twenty stores to examine the type of cooking oil chosen by consumers. The results indicate that after implementation of the NLEA, consumers shifted purchases toward cooking oils higher in saturated fat and lower in monounsaturated fat. This study does not address whether consumers changed their total consumption of cooking oil after implementation of the NLEA.

Suggested Citation

  • Mathios, Alan D., 1998. "The Importance of Nutrition Labeling and Health Claim Regulation on Product Choice: An Analysis of the Cooking Oils Market," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 27(2), pages 159-168, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:agrerw:v:27:y:1998:i:02:p:159-168_00
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Pauline M. Ippolito & Alan D. Mathios, 1990. "Information, Advertising and Health Choices: A Study of the Cereal Market," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 21(3), pages 459-480, Autumn.
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    1. Bernard, Daria J. & Mathios, Alan D., 2005. "Factors Affecting Consumer Choice and Willingness to Pay for Milk Attributes," 2005 Annual meeting, July 24-27, Providence, RI 19366, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    2. Green, Kesten C. & Armstrong, J. Scott, 2012. "Evidence on the effects of mandatory disclaimers in advertising," MPRA Paper 37766, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Teratanavat, Ratapol P. & Hooker, Neal H. & Haugtvedt, Curtis P. & Rucker, Derek D., 2004. "Consumer Understanding And Use Of Health Information On Product Labels: Marketing Implications For Functional Food," 2004 Annual meeting, August 1-4, Denver, CO 20413, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    4. Moon, Wanki & Balasubramanian, Siva K. & Rimal, Arbindra, 2011. "Health claims and consumers' behavioral intentions: The case of soy-based food," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 480-489, August.
    5. Loureiro, Maria Luz & McCluskey, Jill J., 1999. "Effectiveness of PGI and PDO labels as a rural development policy," 67th Seminar, October 28-30, 1999, LeMans, France 241041, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    6. Barreiro-Hurlé, Jesús & Gracia, Azucena & de Magistris, Tiziana, 2008. "When more is less: the effect of multiple health and nutritional labels in food product choice," 2008 International Congress, August 26-29, 2008, Ghent, Belgium 44013, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    7. Moon, Wanki, 2002. "Estimating The Effect Of Health Knowledge In The Consumption Of Soy-Based Foods," 2002 Annual meeting, July 28-31, Long Beach, CA 19681, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    8. Loureiro, Maria L. & McCluskey, Jill J. & Mittelhammer, Ronald C., 2001. "Assessing Consumer Preferences For Organic, Eco-Labeled, And Regular Apples," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 26(2), pages 1-13, December.
    9. Ngobo, Paul-Valentin & Jean, Sylvie, 2012. "Does store image influence demand for organic store brands?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 19(6), pages 621-628.
    10. Loureiro, Maria L. & Umberger, Wendy J., 2002. "Estimating Consumer Willingness-To-Pay For Country Of-Origin-Labels For Beef Products," 2002 Annual meeting, July 28-31, Long Beach, CA 19745, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    11. Maria Luz Loureiro & Jill J. McCluskey, 2000. "Assessing consumer response to protected geographical identification labeling," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(3), pages 309-320.
    12. Rimal, Arbindra & Balasubramanian, Siva K. & Moon, Wanki, 2004. "Two-Stage Decision Model Of Soy Food Consumption Behavior," 2004 Annual meeting, August 1-4, Denver, CO 20096, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    13. Boztuğ, Yasemin & Juhl, Hans Jørn & Elshiewy, Ossama & Jensen, Morten Berg, 2015. "Consumer response to monochrome Guideline Daily Amount nutrition labels," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1-8.
    14. Rosemary Avery & Donald Kenkel & Dean Lillard & Alan Mathios, 2007. "Regulating advertisements: the case of smoking cessation products," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 185-208, April.

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