The findings, published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, are based on a comparison of four different labeling systems and found that the Nutrition Facts label currently required on most food products in the U.S. and Canada was least useable.

 

The label, which lists the percent daily value of several nutrients, took more time to understand and led to food choices that were virtually no better than those made randomly.

 

But another label type — called NuVal — was found to offer better information for consumers to make smart choices. NuVal is a shelf sticker used in some American food markets, which indicates the overall nutritional value of each food item with a number from one to 100.

Two other labeling methods — the Traffic Light system used in the U.K. and another used in Denmark, Sweden, and Canada — produced mixed results.
 

"Food shoppers typically have a limited amount of time to make each food choice, and they find the Nutrition Facts labels to be confusing and difficult to use," says Peter Helfer, lead researcher at McGill. "One product may be low in fat, but high in sugar, while another product may be just the opposite.
 

“Nutrition Facts labels can highlight nutrition conflicts but fail to resolve them. Even educated and motivated shoppers have difficulty picking out the most nutritious product with these labels."