"no real-life evidence exists linking nutrition label use with measured changes in body weight"

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22924157

Curr Obes Rep. 2012 Sep;1(3):134-140. Epub 2012 Jun 26.

Nutrition Labeling to Prevent Obesity: Reviewing the Evidence from Europe.

Storcksdieck Genannt Bonsmann S, Wills JM.

Source

European Food Information Council (EUFIC), Tassel House, Rue Paul Emile Janson 6, 1000 Brussels, Belgium.

Abstract

Overweight and obesity are major public health problems in the European Union (EU). Providing nutrition information on foods and menus is considered a relevant means to guide consumers toward more healthful food choices, in part characterized by adequate energy intakes to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight. Various formats of back-of-pack and front-of-pack nutrition labeling can currently be found across the EU, with varying levels of penetration. Experimental studies show that consumers are reasonably able to understand and use the different systems to identify more healthful food products from given choice sets. However, European studies assessing the impact of nutrition labeling on actual dietary intake are scarce, and no real-life evidence exists linking nutrition label use with measured changes in body weight. This review summarizes how European consumers respond to nutrition labels when shopping for food or eating out of home, considering evidence published between 2007 and mid-March 2012.