Human Factor in Food Label Design to Support Consumer Healthcare and Safety: A Systematic Literature Review

Angelo Corallo, Maria Elena Latino, Marta Menegoli, Biagia De Devitiis and Rosaria Viscecchia
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Angelo Corallo: Innovation Engineering Department, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Maria Elena Latino: Innovation Engineering Department, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Marta Menegoli: Innovation Engineering Department, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Biagia De Devitiis: Department of the Sciences of Agriculture, Food and Environment University of Foggia, 71121 Foggia, Italy
Rosaria Viscecchia: Department of the Sciences of Agriculture, Food and Environment University of Foggia, 71121 Foggia, Italy

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 15, 1-14

Abstract: Labels play a strategic role in communication, representing the interface between consumers and the food system. Consumers’ ability to correctly understand product label information was essential for health and safety, making a sustainable choice, as also demonstrated by the Federal Regulations of USA, which define several guidelines to increase the readability of labels. Human Factor studies the interface design in order to assure users’ safety, comfort, and productiveness. So, it could be applied in label design to enhance consumers’ safeguard and healthcare. The aim of this study is to analyze the fields of application of the Human Factor in label design to evaluate the current methods of utilization in the food industry. A two-step literature review was applied, using bibliometric and content analysis. From bibliometric analysis, 6 clusters of themes and the predominance of medical terms arose. The absence of terms related to the food domain is surprising. So, a content analysis on lead papers’ sample related to the Food Industry was carried out to identify evidence about the human factor in food label design. From content analysis, 2 groups of works’ results, focused on the possibility to consider the human factor in: i) pharmaceutical label design, ii) food label design, respectively. The studies in food label design primarily focused on label readability related to content positioning and not on its understandability. The practical implications of the study include the construction of a new concept of label in terms of contents and communication channels.

Keywords: human factor; food label design; consumer health; consumer safety; systematic literature review; bibliometric analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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