FDA Health Claims Study Suggests Nutrient-Specific Claims Drive Sales

Preliminary results of an FDA study on health claims highlight the difficulty of applying general rules in gauging the efficacy of food-specific health claims, Natural Products Association Vice President of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs Daniel Fabricant says.

The agency released a ¹ preliminary report on results of its "Experimental Study of Health Claims on Food Packages" in May as part of ongoing research on health claims for food and dietary supplements.

In particular, a finding that suggests high public awareness of a nutrient's relationship to a disease can level out the differences in efficacy between types of claims language underscores the complexity of communicating claims effectively, Fabricant notes.

The survey was designed "to help reveal causal relationships between health claims and other health messages and consumer responses," FDA's report says.

The primary objective of the survey was to compare consumer reactions to claims that omit the substance behind the diet/disease relationship ("yogurt may reduce the risk of osteoporosis") versus "substance specific" claims ("calcium-rich foods, such as yogurt, may reduce the risk of osteoporosis.")

"We were particularly interested in determining if consumers are still able to identify the nutrient responsible for the claimed benefit, and recognize that there are many food sources from which they can obtain the nutrient," FDA says.

The study was conducted over the Internet by international market research firm Synovate between January and March 2006.

In two phases, the researchers collected information on respondents' "awareness of foods, nutrients, and foods' possible health benefits" then their "perceptions of various health messages."

Synovate samples were intended to "match the distribution of U.S. household heads in gender, education, age, and ethnicity/race" but do not generate nationally representative results, FDA notes.

A total of 1,593 people completed the first phase; 1,077 of these respondents completed the second phase 10 days later.

The study collected responses to 18 front-panel label claim examples for yogurt, orange juice or pasta (see chart: " ² FDA Health Claims Study - Claims Examples "). These varied in terms of articulation of the diet-disease relationship - "whether a message mentions a food, a substance or nutrient, or a health problem."

The examples also varied in terms of "presumed familiarity" with a diet-disease relationship, including well-known (calcium and osteoporosis), less known (potassium and high blood pressure) and unknown (the fictitious nutrient "lysoton" and heart disease).

Among preliminary results, the study suggests that health claims naming the specific nutrient in a food responsible for a health benefit may be more likely to lead consumers to buy the product than claims that do not mention the nutrient.

"Similarly, the purchase intent is stronger when they see a substance-specific health claim than when they see any other health messages (nutrient content claims, structure/function claims, dietary guidance statements) or a label without any health message."

The respondents were least likely to buy a product "when they see a nutrient content claim or a label that does not include any health message."

The study also found that the delivery form of the message made less of a difference when the disease relationship was well-known.

For example, there was no difference in respondents' belief in the calcium/osteoporosis health relationship across the various types of health messages.

Fabricant says the study's data is "very useful," but adds that one "can't divorce" packaging claims from the advertising a consumer is exposed to or from the retail environment, where, for example, the presence of a "dairy" section reinforces a consumer's awareness of the calcium benefit.

FDA and the Federal Trade Commission have been studying claims language issues for several years, and have involved stakeholders in shaping the process (³ (Also see "Qualified Health Claim Study Should Test Letter Grades, SSA Claims – CHPA" - Pink Sheet, 10 Jul, 2006.), p. 11).

- Christopher Walker ([email protected])