Ease of reading of mandatory information on Canadian food product labels

International Journal of Consumer Studies

Volumn 33, Issue 4, 2009, Pages 369-381

  Mackey, Mary Alton ^a   Metz, Marilyn ^b  

^a Alton Mackey and Associates   (Canada)

^b MCGILL UNIVERSITY   (Canada)

Author keywords

Consumer; Food product labels; Legibility; Miscue; Print; Readability; Typography

Indexed keywords

EID: 78649447512     PISSN: 14706423     EISSN: 14706431     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1470-6431.2009.00787.x     Document Type: Article

References (56)

1. Baltas, G. (2001) Nutrition labelling: issues and policies. European Journal of Marketing 35, 708–721.
2. Bilak, P. (2006) Illegibility. [WWW document]. URL http://www.typ.nl/TYP04/woud/illegibility00.htm (accessed on 4 August 2006).
3. Bix, L. (2002) The elements of text and message design and their impact on message legibility: a literature review. Journal of Design Communication Spring 4. [WWW document] URL http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JDC/Soring-2002/bix.html (accessed on 23 July 2006).
4. Black, A. (1990) Typefaces for Desktop Publishing: A User Guide. Architecture Design and Technology Press, London.
5. Borra, S. (2006) Consumer perspectives on food labels. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 83, 1235.
6. Campden & Chorley Food Research Association. (2005) An assessment of the uptake of Food Standards Guidance on clear food labelling. Internet., Chipping Campden, Glos., G155 6ld, UK. [WWW document] URL http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/clearlabassess.pdf (accessed on 3 March 2009).
7. Canadian Council on Food and Nutrition (2008) Tracking Nutrition Trends VII. [WWW document] URL http://www.ccfn.ca (accessed on 3 March 2009).
8. Cleary, E. (1988) Public typography. Studio Magazine 6, 6–12.
9. Codex Alimentarius Commission (2007) General Standard for the Labelling of Prepackaged Foods CODEX Stand 1. [WWW document] URL http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/Y2770E/y2770e02.htm (accessed on 26 February 2009).
10. Connolly, G.K. (1988) Legibility and readability of small print: Effects of font, observer age, and spacial vision. Masters, Department of Psychology, University of Calgary.
11. Craig, J. (1980) Designing with Type. Pitman Publishing, London.
12. Cresswell, J.W. (1998) Quantitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among Five Traditions. Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
13. Department of Justice (2007a) Consumer packaging and labelling act C-38. Ottawa, Government of Canada. [WWW document] URL http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/c-38/229698.html (accessed on 22 March 2007).
14. Department of Justice (2007b) Consumer packaging and labelling regulations. Ottawa, Government of Canada. [WWW document] URL Http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/c-38/C.R.C.-c.417/74651.html (accessed on 22 March 2007).
15. Department of Justice (2009a) Food and Drug Regulations (C.R.C., c.870). Ottawa, Government of Canada. [WWW document] URL http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/f-27/c.r.c.-c.870/ (accessed on 14 March 2009).
16. Department of Justice (2009b) Food and Drugs Act (C.R.C., c.870). Ottawa, Government of Canada. [WWW document] URL http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/ShowDoc/cs/F-27///en?page=1 (accessed on 14 March 2009).
17. Department of Justice (2009c) Food and Drugs Act (C.R.C., c. 870). FDR A.01.016. Ottawa, Goverment of Canada. [WWW document] URL http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/showdoc/cr/C.R.C.-c.870/bo-ga:l_A//en#anchorbo-ga:l_A (accessed on 14 March 2009).
18. Department of Justice (2009d) Food and Drugs Act (C.R.C., c.870). FDR B.01.007 (1.1) (b) (ii). [WWW document]http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/showdoc/cr/C.R.C.-c.870/bo-ga:l_A//en#anchorbo-ga:l_A (accessed on 14 March 2009).
19. Department of Trade and Industry Consumer Safety Unit (1989) Instructions for Consumer Products. Her Majesty's Stationary Office, London.
20. European Commission (2009) Food labelling community legislation. [WWW document]http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/labellingnutrition/foodlabelling/comm._legisl_en.htm (accessed on 26 February 2009).
21. Fern, E.F. (2001) Advanced focus group research. Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.
22. Food and Drug Administration (1997) Guidance on labeling of foods that need refrigeration by consumers. [WWW document]http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/lrd/fr970224.html (accessed on 23 March 2007).
23. Food and Drug Administration (2008) Code of federal regulations. Internet Title 21.United States. [WWW document]http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm (accessed on 26 February 2009).
24. Food Standards Agency (2000a) Better food labelling – Written responses. UK. [WWW document] URL http://www.food.gov.uk/news/pressreleases/2000/jul/betfoodlabreport (accessed on 3 March 2009).
25. Food Standards Agency (2000b) Better food labelling open forum, March 2. UK. [WWW document] URL http://archive.food.gov.uk/maff/archive/food/label/bfood.pdf (accessed on 3 March 2009).
26. Food Standards Agency (2002a) Clear food labelling. [WWW document] URL http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/clearlabelling.pdf (accessed on 3 March 2009).
27. Food Standards Agency (2002b) Clear labelling task force recommendations on ideal label formats. UK. [WWW document] URL http://www.food.gov.uk/foodlabelling/researchandreports/cltfrecs (accessed on 3 March 2009).
28. Food Standards Agency (2004) Guidance notes on the food labeling, (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations. UK. [WWW document] URL http://www.food.gov.uk/multiledia/pdfs/labelamendguid21nov05.pdf (accessed on 4 April 2006).
29. Food Standards Agency (2008) Food labelling clear labelling guidance. UK. [WWW document] URL http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/clearfoodlabelling.pdf (accessed on 3 March 2009).
30. Food Standards Agency UK (2002) Clear food labelling. [WWW document]http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/clearlabelling.pdf (accessed on 4 September 2006).
31. Food Standards Australia New Zealand (2001) Standard 1.2.9 legibility requirements for food labels. [WWW document]http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/thecode/assistanceforindustry/userguides/legibilityrequiremen1401.cfm (accessed on 26 February 2009).
32. Food Standards Australia New Zealand (2004) User guide to Standard 1.2.9 – Legibility requirements. [WWW document] URL http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/thecode/codeinformation/userguides/index.cfm (accessed on 26 February 2009).
33. Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (2001) Standard 1.2.3 Mandatory warning and advisory statements and declarations. [WWW document] URL http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/newsroom/factsheets/industryfactsheetsfsc/warningandadvisoryst1155.cfm (accessed on 26 February 2009).
34. Fozard, J.L. (1990) Vision and hearing in aging. In Handbook of the Psychology of Aging, 3rd edn. (ed. by J.E. Birren & K. Warner Schaie), pp. 150–170. Academic Press, San Diego, CA.
35. Gilliland, J. (1972) Readability. University of London Press, London.
36. Goodman, Y.M., Watson, D.J. & Burke, C.L. (1987) Reading Miscue Inventory. Richard C. Owen, New York, NY.
37. Hartley, J. (1994) Designing instructional text for older readers: a literature review. British Journal of Educational Technology 25, 172–188.
38. Henneberry, S.R. & Armbruster, W.J. (2003) Emerging roles for food labels: inform, protect, persuade. Journal of Food Distribution Research 34, 62–69.
39. Jukes, D.J. (2008) Food labelling in the European Union. UK. The School of Food Biosciences, The University of Reading, [WWW document] URL http://www.foodlaw.rdg.ac.uk/label.htm (accessed 26 February 2009).
40. Kline, D.W. & Scheiber, F. (1985) Vision and aging. In Handbook of the Psychology of Aging, 2nd edn (ed. by J.E. Birren & K.W. Shaie), pp. 296–331. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York.
41. McLean, R. (1992) Manual of Typography. Thames and Hudson, London.
42. Metz, M. (1997) Preferences of consumers aged 50+ for typography of product instruction labels. Unpublished PhD Thesis. Montreal, PQ, McGill University. [WWW document] URL http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp03/NQ30338.pdf (accessed 3 March 2009).
43. Nordic Council of Ministers (2007) Food Labelling: Nordic consumers' attitudes to food labelling. Internet TemaNord, 513, 1–65. [WWW document] URL http://www.norden.org/pub/velfaerd/livsmedel/sk/TN2007513.pdf (accessed 3 March 2009).
44. Optem (2005) The European consumers' attitudes regarding product labelling: Qualitative study in 28 European countries. 1–108. European commission directorate-general for health and consumer protection. [WWW document] URL http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/topics/labeling_report_en.pdf (accessed 3 March 2009).
45. Paterson, D.G. & Tinker, M.A. (1940) How to Make Type Readable A Manual for Typographers Printers and Advertisers. Harper & Brothers, New York.
46. Reynolds, L. (1979) Legibitility studies: their relevance to present-day documentation methods. Journal of Documentation 35, 307–340.
47. Rousseau, G.K., Lamson, N. & Rogers, W.A. (1998) Designing warnings to compensate for age-related changes in perceptual and cognitive abilities. Psychology and Marketing 15, 643–662.
48. Spencer, H. (1969) The Visible Word, 2nd edn. Visual Communication Books, Hastings House, New York.
49. Statistics Canada (2005) CANSIM, 052–0004 Catalogue 91-520-X. [WWW document] URL http://www40.statcan.ca/101/est01/educ42.htm (accessed 5 August 2006).
50. Sutherland, S.W. (1989) Miles Albert Tinker and the zone of optimal typography. University of Washington, Unpublished doctoral dissertation.
51. The European Parliament and The Council (2000) Directive 2000/13/Ec on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the labelling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs, 29–42. Official Journal of the European Communities, [WWW document]http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/pri/en/oj/dat/2000/l_109/l_10920000506en00290042.pdf (accessed 23 March 2007).
52. Thorndike Press (2004) Large print and reading independence. Thorndike, ME. [WWW document] URL http://www.galeschools.com/thorndike/research.htm (accessed 7 March 2009).
53. Tinker, M.A. (1963) The Legibility of Print. Iowa State University Press, Ames Iowa.
54. Tinker, M.A. (1965) Bases for Effective Reading. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.
55. Vanderplas, J.M. & Vanderplas, J.H. (1980) Some factors affecting legibility of printed materials for older adults. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 50, 923–932.
56. Williams, R. (1998) The non-designer's type book: insights and techniques for creating professional-level type. [WWW document] URL http://www.graphic-design.com/Type-fonteam (accessed 24 July 2006).