Impact of Added Sugar Information of Front-of-Pack Labels on Consumers’ Beverage Health Perception Changes

This study examined the effect of Front-of-package (FOP) labels with voluntary and mandatory disclosure of added sugar levels for beverages on consumer perceptions of how healthy the beverages are. Three groups of beverages were investigated: 1) 100% fruit juice (containing sugar but no added sugar); 2) sugar-sweetened beverages (containing sugar and added sugar); and 3) diet soft drink (containing no sugar). In general, added sugar information seems to play an important role in perception of healthfulness of beverages. FOP labels with mandatory added sugar information led to decreasing perceptions of how healthy beverages with added sugar were.