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Open research questions in Consumer Attitudes and Food Labeling

89 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 2,070 Consumer Attitudes and Food Labeling papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • Although further optimisation of the service is warranted, these findings support the potential for broader implementation of PN services in military and other high-performance environments.

    Implementing a Personalised Nutrition Service in a Real-Life Military Setting: Feasibility and Consumer Acceptance · 2026 · DOI

  • Specifically, it provides a way to document heterogeneity across GLP-1 users at different stages of use, which is important to interpreting mixed evidence in the existing literature and to understanding how observed consumption patterns may vary across segments of users.

    Meal Location and Protein Choices of GLP-1 Users · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should address several critical gaps. Finally, future investigations should explore the health implications of emerging dietary trends, such as highly processed plant-based alternatives, to distinguish nutritionally adequate diets from those that are merely plant-derived but still ultra-processed.

    Ultra-processed food consumption across early life: implications for pediatric health and disease risk · 2026 · DOI

  • Our study has some limitations. Participants were recruited from nonprobability online panels. Despite efforts to recruit people whose sociodemographic profiles matched the general population and adjustment of estimates by using poststratification weights, re- sidual selection biases may nevertheless have influenced the gen- eralizability of our results. In particular, our Mexico sample under- represented people with lower educational attainment, although this may have resulted in overestimates given that FoPWLs ap- pear more effective for people with low education (13). Neverthe- less, evidence is generally more mixed for education-related dif- ferences across front-of-package labeling systems (32). Further- more, the BFQ relies on self-report that may misclassify portion sizes or fail to capture unbranded or unpackaged beverages. For example, prepolicy versions of the BFQ did not capture sweetened coffees and teas that have become increasingly popular in the US, and it did not explicitly assess aguas frescas, which Mexican people often prepare at home, usually with added sugars (33). Consumers in either country may have substituted these bever- ages for the SSBs we captured, with unknown effects on our es- timates. Even with our potentially limited measurement, however, the frequency and volume of SSB consumption increased in both countries, suggesting that substitution was less likely than addi- tion. Although the US offers a reasonable comparison with Mex- ico, especially given the increasingly integrated food industry across these countries, differences across our samples and unmeas- ured country-specific characteristics and shocks (eg, marketing, local taxes, supply changes) could have introduced bias. Moreover, because the US also implemented label changes during the study period, it should be viewed as a comparison setting rather than an untreated control group. Furthermore, many Mexic- an Americans have reported encountering FoPWLs in Mexican- oriented stores and reducing their SSB purchases in response (29), thereby potentially contaminating our US comparison group. Fu- ture research should evaluate differences in SSB trends by race and ethnicity subgroups, whose samples were too small for us to meaningfully assess. In addition, our design could not fully separ- ate FoPWL effects from market dynamics in Mexico, including in- dustry efforts to weaken regulations (11) and massive reformula- tion effects (25) that likely help account for some of the reduc- tions in calorie and added sugar intake. Because of challenges with model convergence, volume-based outcomes were estimated only among SSB consumers. Given that the prepolicy to postpolicy in- creases in any SSB consumption were less dramatic in Mexico than the US, exclusion of non-SSB consumers likely attenuated any cross-country differences in volume outcomes.

    Changes in Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intake From Before to After Nutrition Labeling Policy Implementation: A Comparison of Mexico and the United States · 2026 · DOI

  • building reviews (Paul et al., 2021; Tsiotsou et al.,2022). for the different theoretical systematically variables factors, 3.2 Analytical Framework: ADO–TCM Lens To organise and synthesise the literature, this study uses the Antecedents-Decisions-Outcomes (ADO- TCM) framework as a lens for analysis, instead of a method of research. The ADO-TCM framework helps as to classify and antecedents, decision-making behavioural outcomes; here, TCM stands for Theories, Contexts, Methods, thus making it easier to integrate perspectives coherently (Paul et al., 2021). Practically, theories bring consumer food choice into existing psychological and social mechanisms of behaviour theory. Contexts bring the theory into practice in real-world circumstances, considering ongoing cultural transitions and post-pandemic adaptations, which shape consumer food choices. Methods provide for multiple methods which can identify current gaps and provide a theoretical basis upon which model strategies can be built. Seen in this light, fortified edible oils are more than just nutrition; they are new product forms designed within behavioural, cultural and health ways of change occurring in food systems today. In this framework, components of TPB, VAB, and HBM are assigned to their appropriate roles. Values- based and health-related elements serve as antecedents; decision-making components include cognitive and social influences, whereas behavioural intention and adoption are the outcomes. This well- defined method provides a better understanding of the concepts and helps create a combined framework and TCM for Theories, Contexts, and Methods. abstracts, reports, blogs). 2. Studies without any theoretical foundation. 3. Articles that focus solely on supply-side or technical fortification processes without any analysis of consumer behaviour. 3.3 Framework Development Process The framework was built by the iterative curation of insights coming from the chosen literature. Initially, pivotal concepts were extracted from well-known theories and previous studies (Paul et al., 2021). Then, the links between these concepts were explored on the grounds of theory and data. Besides for example, that, other contextual elements, ambivalence and digital trust, were added to the model to unfold new aspects of consumer behaviour. This framework binds the value-driven, belief-driven, and intention-driven viewpoints into one unified model that thoroughly explains consumer decision- making about fortified edible oil adoption.

    <b>An Integrated Consumer Decision-Making Framework for Fortified Edible Oil Adoption</b> · 2026 · DOI

  • coherently (Paul et al., 2021). Practically, theories bring consumer food choice into existing psychological and social mechanisms of behaviour theory. Contexts bring the theory into practice in real-world circumstances, considering ongoing cultural transitions and post-pandemic adaptations, which shape consumer food choices. Methods provide for multiple methods which can identify current gaps and provide a theoretical basis upon which model strategies can be built. Seen in this light, fortified edible oils are more than just nutrition; they are new product forms designed within behavioural, cultural and health ways of change occurring in food systems today. In this framework, components of TPB, VAB, and HBM are assigned to their appropriate roles. Values- based and health-related elements serve as antecedents; decision-making components include cognitive and social influences, whereas behavioural intention and adoption are the outcomes. This well- defined method provides a better understanding of the concepts and helps create a combined framework and TCM for Theories, Contexts, and Methods. abstracts, reports, blogs). 2. Studies without any theoretical foundation. 3. Articles that focus solely on supply-side or technical fortification processes without any analysis of consumer behaviour. 3.3 Framework Development Process The framework was built by the iterative curation of insights coming from the chosen literature. Initially, pivotal concepts were extracted from well-known theories and previous studies (Paul et al., 2021). Then, the links between these concepts were explored on the grounds of theory and data. Besides for example, that, other contextual elements, ambivalence and digital trust, were added to the model to unfold new aspects of consumer behaviour. This framework binds the value-driven, belief-driven, and intention-driven viewpoints into one unified model that thoroughly explains consumer decision- making about fortified edible oil adoption.

    <b>An Integrated Consumer Decision-Making Framework for Fortified Edible Oil Adoption</b> · 2026 · DOI

  • Future work should explore governance frameworks and collaborative offline-capable solutions and Frontiers in Public Health 15 frontiersin. Fourth, scaling the system from a single-school pilot to multi- school, multi-region deployment presents several practical challenges that warrant further investigation.

    Ontology-based dietary recommendation system for Chinese children and adolescents: development and a pilot validation study · 2026 · DOI

  • From a communica- tion perspective, the content and framing analyses demonstrate that the news articles identified through the selected keywords are limited to a specific time period within the BBC’s searchable archive.

    Content and framing analysis of food supplement in the BBC news and evaluation from a nutrition science perspective · 2026 · DOI

  • Policy evaluations linking coordinated fiscal tools, marketing restrictions, front-of-pack labeling, and procurement standards to downstream outcomes require explicit substitution targets and equity-centered monitoring to track distributional effects and detect unintended consequences across population subgroups facing different affordability and time scarcity constraints.

    Ultra processed foods at the planetary nutrition nexus with implications for mental health environmental footprints and policy levers · 2026 · DOI

  • Environmental accounting for ultra-processed foods requires expansion with transparent system boundaries and routine post-farm stage decomposition, as current methods do not consistently track environmental indicators across the full value-chain stages affected by policy substitution pathways.

    Ultra processed foods at the planetary nutrition nexus with implications for mental health environmental footprints and policy levers · 2026 · DOI

  • Current evidence on ultra-processed food exposure measurement lacks reproducibility standards, and longitudinal mediation-oriented designs connecting UPF intake to mental health outcomes remain underdeveloped, limiting causal inference about downstream mental health effects of policy interventions.

    Ultra processed foods at the planetary nutrition nexus with implications for mental health environmental footprints and policy levers · 2026 · DOI

  • Procurement and school food standards require monitoring systems capable of assessing whether ultra-processed food reductions translate into mental health and environmental co-benefits or shift burdens across value-chain life-cycle stages, particularly regarding assumptions that plant-based options are environmentally favorable without accounting for whether they are ultra-processed.

    Ultra processed foods at the planetary nutrition nexus with implications for mental health environmental footprints and policy levers · 2026 · DOI

  • Interpretive front-of-pack labeling and nutrient profiling should be assessed not only for purchase shifts and product reformulation, but also for substitution quality—specifically whether policy-induced changes increase minimally-processed food options or primarily reconfigure ultra-processed food portfolios without genuine dietary improvement.

    Ultra processed foods at the planetary nutrition nexus with implications for mental health environmental footprints and policy levers · 2026 · DOI

  • Fiscal policy extensions beyond beverages to locally-selected UPF product criteria or paired tax-subsidy approaches require evaluation to assess substitution from one UPF category to another, distributional effects, and whether price signals shift product portfolios toward genuinely healthier options rather than narrow nutrient-threshold optimization.

    Ultra processed foods at the planetary nutrition nexus with implications for mental health environmental footprints and policy levers · 2026 · DOI

  • A third set of UPF policy proposals lacks extensive evaluations that explicitly include mental health endpoints or full value-chain environmental indicators, with outcomes supported primarily by conceptual rationale and governance framework alignment rather than robust empirical designs.

    Ultra processed foods at the planetary nutrition nexus with implications for mental health environmental footprints and policy levers · 2026 · DOI

  • Sugar-sweetened beverage tax evaluations show strong evidence for beverage categories, but effects remain mixed or context-dependent when extended to broader UPF product sets implemented as multi-component policy packages where attribution of outcomes to specific interventions is difficult.

    Ultra processed foods at the planetary nutrition nexus with implications for mental health environmental footprints and policy levers · 2026 · DOI

  • The final discussion in this paper identifies a multitude of gaps in the current literature and avenues for further research into the effects of providing nutrition information on different socio-demographic segments, in different food and restaurant categories, in different health contexts and individual health situations, and groups with pre-existing eating disorders.

    Providing Nutrition Information on US Restaurant Menus: A Systematic Review Since the Affordable Care Act (2010) · 2024 · DOI

  • Background Consumers are advised to seek information about dietary supplements (DS) before using them; little is known concerning whether this recommendation is heeded.

    Consumers’ Information-Seeking Behaviors on Dietary Supplements · 2019 · DOI

  • The marketplace is filled with different FOP labels, but their true effects remain unclear, as does which label works best to change perceptions and behaviors.

    Consumer effects of front-of-package nutrition labeling: an interdisciplinary meta-analysis · 2019 · DOI

  • However, the discourses it circulates have been critiqued as abstract and difficult to apply in everyday practice, and linked to a nutritionally confused environment where the disempowered eater is positioned as lacking knowledge about nutrition and in need of expert intervention to learn how to eat right and become a responsible, healthy subject.

    The Confused Canadian Eater: Quantification, Personal Responsibility, and Canada’s Food Guide · 2018 · DOI

  • It seeks to extend our understanding of parent-child request interactions and purchases by studying how the number of product request interactions and purchases differ based on four factors that have been understudied in previous parent-child interaction research: parent gender, child gender, product healthfulness, and who initiated the request interaction (parent or child).

    Who Is Influencing Whom? Latino Parent–Child Request Interactions and Product Purchases in Food Retail Environments · 2017 · DOI

  • In the majority of studies on eating behavior, awareness has not been explored systematically, and in some cases, it has been completely ignored (Brunstrom, 2004).

    Awareness of the Influence a Variety of Food Has on Food Consumption · 2016

  • However, despite the proliferation of functional food health claims promising more than basic nutrition, little is known about consumer responses to these claims, particularly in information environments in which inconsistent information may be available about the efficacy of a particular functional ingredient.

    Eating with a Purpose: Consumer Response to Functional Food Health Claims in Conflicting versus Complementary Information Environments · 2009 · DOI

  • Moreover, whereas the predictive validity of the IAT has been tested in a number of studies, its incremental validity has not been studied as thoroughly.

    The IAT as a predictor of food choice: The case of fruits versus snacks · 2007 · DOI

  • Concludes that issues regarding personal and national health are extremely important because of the financial costs and human suffering that could be involved; and that functional goods, as a relatively new phenomenon, still need to be examined further with regard to their influence on trust and legitimacy in buyer behaviour.

    Buyer beliefs, attitudes and behaviour: foods with therapeutic claims · 2002 · DOI

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89 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 2,070 Consumer Attitudes and Food Labeling papers in our library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

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