How do consumers perceive reformulated foods after the implementation of nutritional warnings? Case study with frankfurters in Chile

Nutritional warnings have emerged as a promising front-of-package nutrition labelling scheme to discourage consumption of products with high content of nutrients associated with non-communicable diseases. One of the objectives of this policy is to encourage the food industry to reformulate their products. However, information about consumers' perception of reformulated products in the context of the implementation of this policy is still limited. The aim of this study was to assess the relative influence of different types of reformulation on consumers' perceived healthfulness and purchase intention, using frankfurters as case study. A conjoint analysis was implemented considering a fractional factorial design involving 5 2-level variables: brand type (artisanal/industrial), sodium reduction (with/without), saturated fat reduction (with/without), fibre claim (with/without) and cholesterol claim (with/without). An online survey with 494 consumers was implemented one year after the implementation of nutritional warnings in Chile. Participants were randomly divided into two groups, one of which evaluated purchase intention (n = 249) and the other evaluated perceived healthfulness (n = 245). Data were analysed using analysis of variance and cluster analysis. Results showed that reformulated products without nutritional warnings for sodium and saturated fat were perceived as more healthful and had higher purchase intention scores than then regular counterparts. On the contrary, nutrient claims did not have a relevant effect on consumers' perception. Heterogeneity in consumers' reaction to the reformulated products was found and was mainly related to consumption frequency of the product category. Results provide insights for policy makers and food companies in countries considering the implementation of nutritional warnings.