Who Regularly Uses the Nutrition Facts Label? Exploring Demographic, Socioeconomic, and Geographic Differences

Packaged food labels provide consumers with nutrition information they can use to identify and purchase foods that support a healthy eating pattern. In line with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) role in developing and promoting the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, this report uses National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data to examine the potential dietary benefits associated with the use of packaged food labels and whether differences exist among U.S. consumers in label use. Nationally representative data on adults aged 18 and older from NHANES were used to quantify the associations between regular use of the Nutrition Facts label when buying packaged foods and dietary intakes and identify the consumer characteristics that predict regular use of the Nutrition Facts label. The results indicate that daily intakes of calories, fats, saturated fats, alcohol, sugars, and sodium are significantly lower among adults who regularly use the Nutrition Facts label. Despite these potential dietary benefits, large disparities exist in the regular use of packaged food label information by sex, race and ethnicity, education, income, and geographic area. Notably, regular use of information about calories, sodium, and sugars is significantly lower among men (versus women), non-Hispanic White consumers (versus Hispanic consumers of all races), adults with less educational attainment (versus those with higher educational attainment), lower income households (versus those with higher incomes), and residents of nonmetropolitan areas (versus residents of large metropolitan areas).