2022 Volume 53 Issue 6 Pages 207-214
One cause of hypertension is excessive salt intake. Outside Japan, simplified front-of-package (FOP) labels are widely used as a means of discouraging excessive salt intake. In this survey, we examined FOP labels targeting Japanese hypertension patients. We also proposed and evaluated packaging promoting low-salt foods. A questionnaire survey of adult hypertensive outpatients was conducted between June 11 and December 7, 2018.
The responses of 100 patients were analyzed. Of these, 63％ considered the simplified FOP label useful. Opinions were divided regarding nutrient-specific labels as one type of simplified FOP label, with 42％ of participants selecting labels showing the percentages of guideline daily amount (GDA) with the addition of a text rating indicating values as low, medium, or high, and 46％ selecting a text rating only. Comparison by age group showed that participants <70 years old selected percentages of GDA with a text rating, whereas those ≥70 years old selected a text rating only. A traffic lights type of color rating was considered necessary by 94％ of participants. In a test involving a reversal of thinking, when low-salt foods were treated as regular products and normal-salt foods as salted products, 85％ of participants selected the low-salt foods. These results suggest that package designs using a simplified FOP label may be effective for promoting low-salt foods. Positive results were also obtained for new package designs for low-salt foods. These measures may help Japanese hypertension patients better understand food labels and reduce salt intake, improve their diet, and mitigate their hypertension.
