Think Tank Finds New Health Canada Labels Effective in Changing Mindset of Shoppers

Labels put on foods by Health Canada are getting more people to turn away from unhealthy food on grocery store shelves, according to one think tank.

The federal government recently mandated new front-of-package nutrition symbols to highlight foods high in saturated fat, sugars, or sodium.

A new poll commissioned by the Canadian think tank SecondStreet.org shows that consumers are not only noticing the labels, but actually putting the junk food back on the shelf.

SecondStreet.org president Colin Craig says the labels have changed the mindset of nearly half of shoppers.

“About 84 per cent of Canadians have noticed them, and one of the follow-up questions we asked was, well, did it affect your behavior? Because that’s the whole point behind the government’s rationale for requiring packaged food products to have these labels, is to warn people if they’re high in sodium, saturated fats, or sugar,” he said.

“What we found was that about half of Canadians indicated that, yes, it led to them deciding to purchase a healthier product.”