Consumer responses to nutrition labels in China

Abstract

As a cost-effective way to promote healthy eating habits and prevent obesity, nutrition labeling has drawn great public interest around the world. China implemented its first mandatory nutrition labeling regulation under the National Food Safety Standard for Nutrition Labeling of Pre-packaged Foods (GB28050-2011) in 2013. Focusing on the Chinese carbonated soft drinks market and using a mixed logit model based on 132,849 purchase records from over 40,000 households, this study investigates consumers' responses to nutrition labels. Empirical results show that nutrition labeling induces Chinese consumers to select relatively healthier products and could be a prominent policy tool for sugar reduction.