A Qualitative Study of New Zealand Consumer Perceptions, Use and Understandings of Nutrition Content and Health Claims ^†

Abstract

Nutrition content and health claims are voluntary statements regarding the nutrition content of food or how it relates to health. They are commonly used on food labels and in food advertising. The majority of packaged food products in New Zealand display nutrition content or a health claim on the label. This study aimed to investigate how consumers in New Zealand understand, perceive, and use the nutrition content and health claims on food labels. The study used a qualitative approach with semi-structured in-depth online interviews and in-person focus groups. Participants who were aged > 25 years and who were responsible for the food shopping in their household were selected. Ten participants took part in the interviews and the seven focus groups consisted of 39 participants. Transcripts were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, where inductive coding identified five themes: (1) aware of claims but did not use, (2) mistrust and scepticism of nutrition content and health claims, (3) confusion and misinterpretation of nutrition content and health claims, (4) using claims to guide food choice, and (5) not all claims are equal. The findings from this study showed that nutrition content and health claims were used by a minority subgroup of consumers with specific dietary requirements. However, most consumers perceived nutrition content and health claims with scepticism and mistrust and were not aware that these are highly regulated, but rather believed that the claims were simply marketing tactics to increase product appeal and sales.