Food labels in a consumer behavior perspective: A bibliometric analysis

Consumer lifestyle and purchasing decisions have a significant impact on people health. Despite numerous efforts by different institutions and organizations, obesity has approximately doubled worldwide since the 1980s and has become one of the major societal problems (Chooi et al., 2019). Ultra-processed packaged foods, which are sources of energy, fat, saturated fat, sodium and added sugars, have contributed to the increased risk of chronic diseases (WHO, 2002; WHO, 2017). Furthermore, the obesity pandemic is also an economical burden for society: a high body mass index is estimated to cost USD 990 billion per year globally for healthcare services (World Obesity, 2020). There is, therefore, a growing public interest in the long-term link between diet, lifestyle and health. Many actors in the market, including consumer groups, public authorities, retailers and product manufacturers, have all focused on giving more and better nutritional information to consumers. In particular, food labels are considered to be an integral strategy to improve diet by providing consumers with nutrition information at the point of purchase and to promote healthier purchases and choices (Cowburn and Stockley, 2005; WHO, 2004; 2011). The information conveyed by labels has evolved over time, and they have become more numerous and more complex depending on different goals. For many years the only nutritional labels in use were BOP (back-of-package) labels. They were in form of a small chart with numeric information, but evidence indicates that most consumers are not able to accurately interpret them (Cowburn and Stockley, 2005).