IFIC Survey: U.S. Shoppers Check Labels and Want Balanced Front-of-Pack Info

TL;DR: U.S. shoppers want front-of-package labels that show both nutrients to limit and nutrients to encourage, according to a June 2026 IFIC survey.

Thirty years after the Nutrition Facts panel changed grocery shopping, label reading is routine and shoppers are asking for balance on the front of the pack. That is the central message of the IFIC Spotlight Survey: Americans’ Perceptions Of Nutrition Labels, released June 2, 2026, and summarized June 4, 2026 by Food Safety Magazine in “Survey Reveals How U.S. Consumers Use Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labels”.

The survey arrives while federal front-of-package policy is in flux. According to Food Safety Magazine, federally standardized front-of-pack nutrition labeling is being considered — and reconsidered — with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) looking to shake up its proposed approach, while legislators have introduced bills aiming to mandate FDA to advance a front-of-pack scheme.

Survey tested knowledge, attitudes and beliefs

The International Food Information Council (IFIC) commissioned an online survey to measure knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about food and beverage labeling, according to IFIC.

One thousand adults ages 18 years and older completed the online survey from March 13-20, 2026, and results were weighted to ensure proportional results, according to IFIC. Totals may not equal 100% due to rounding, according to IFIC.

The Bayesian confidence level for the survey sample (n=1008) is 3.5, which is roughly equivalent to a margin of error of ±3.1 at the 95% confidence level, according to IFIC.

This research was supported through an unrestricted grant from the Consumer Brands Association, according to IFIC.

Policy backdrop: FDA Nutrition Info Box

The IFIC release places its findings in the context of FDA action in January 2025. Back in January 2025, FDA proposed its Nutrition Info Box front-of-package label framework, which FDA proposed would help consumers quickly and easily identify how foods and beverages can fit into a healthy diet, according to IFIC.

IFIC said its findings show that Americans look for a range of information on food and beverage packaging and regularly consult front-of-package labels to guide decisions.

“Americans aren’t passive about nutrition information; we see they are actively engaging with label information while grocery shopping,” said IFIC President and CEO Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak, MS, RDN, according to IFIC.

She said the research indicates shoppers want information that helps them make a complete decision, not just to limit or avoid something, and called that a meaningful signal for anyone shaping the future of food labels, according to IFIC.

Most shoppers check labels while buying groceries

Label engagement is widespread. The survey found that 79% of Americans check nutrition or ingredient information on packaging at least sometimes while grocery shopping, according to IFIC. Nearly half, 47%, do so always or often, according to IFIC.

Food Safety Magazine reported the same result, noting that 79 percent check at least sometimes and 47 percent do so always or often.

Confidence is similarly high, according to IFIC. Eighty-six percent say they feel at least somewhat confident interpreting nutrition information on food and beverage labels, according to IFIC and Food Safety Magazine.

That combination — frequent checking plus self-reported confidence — frames the rest of the survey, according to IFIC. Shoppers are not only encountering labels, they report trusting their ability to interpret them during routine trips.

What shoppers look for: calories, sugars, protein, sodium

When shoppers prioritize nutrients, the list spans both nutrients to limit and nutrients to encourage, according to IFIC.

Calories top the list at 45%, followed closely by total sugars at 44%, protein at 42%, sodium at 41%, and added sugars at 39%, according to IFIC and Food Safety Magazine.

IFIC described the breadth of that list as itself a data point about how consumers approach personal health, covering both limit and encourage categories.

That mix matters for policy design, according to IFIC. A label focused only on nutrients to avoid would miss protein, which ranks among the top three items shoppers seek. A label focused only on positive nutrients would miss calories, sugars and sodium, which rank first, second, fourth and fifth.

Front-of-package information shapes purchases

While front-of-package labeling is not mandatory in the U.S., several voluntary systems exist, according to IFIC and Food Safety Magazine.

The nutrition information currently on the front of food and beverage packaging shapes purchase decisions in the U.S., according to IFIC. Eighty percent of Americans say front-of-package nutrition information influences what they buy at least sometimes, according to IFIC and Food Safety Magazine.

The question IFIC then asked was what type of front-of-package information would be most helpful: what to limit, what to encourage, or both together.

The answer is both, according to IFIC. Four in ten Americans, 41%, say the most helpful front-of-package labeling would include nutrients to encourage alongside dietary components to limit — more than the percentage who prefer either approach alone, according to IFIC.

By comparison, 26% prefer guidance focused solely on what to limit and 16% prefer guidance focused only on what to encourage, according to IFIC and Food Safety Magazine.

Preference for balance matches earlier research

IFIC said this preference for a balanced approach is consistent with IFIC’s May 2024 front-of-package nutrition labeling research, according to IFIC.

“The FDA’s attention to front-of-package nutrition labeling is an important next step in food labeling,” said IFIC Senior Director, Consumer Insights and Research, Kris Sollid, RD, according to IFIC.

Sollid said what the data adds to the policy discussion is the consumer voice asking to see the big picture of what is in food, both positive and negative nutrients, and that balance matters, according to IFIC.

Reinhardt Kapsak added that as federal nutrition labeling policy continues to evolve, IFIC research offers a perspective to inform a path forward regarding the information that consumers value most, according to IFIC.

She also said the American public is increasingly engaged in food- and nutrition-related matters, and that front-of-package guidance makes nutrition information more accessible and can have a big public health impact if it motivates healthier choices, according to IFIC.

What a balanced model can look like

IFIC pointed to FACTS UP FRONT as an example of a balanced front-of-package scheme, according to Food Safety Magazine.

FACTS UP FRONT is a voluntary industry nutrition labeling framework that displays calories, saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars, with flexibility to include up to two beneficial nutrients that meet FDA “good source” criteria, according to IFIC and Food Safety Magazine.

In other words, the core display covers components commonly associated with limiting, while allowing space for up to two beneficial nutrients when products meet the relevant FDA threshold, according to IFIC.

That structure aligns with the survey’s 41% preference for combined information, according to IFIC. It does not require choosing between encourage-only and limit-only designs.

Familiarity and use of FACTS UP FRONT run high

Among Americans who engage with nutrition information while shopping, FACTS UP FRONT has achieved broad visibility, according to IFIC.

More than nine in ten, 92%, are familiar with FACTS UP FRONT, according to IFIC and Food Safety Magazine. That figure applies to Americans who check nutrition information when grocery shopping, according to IFIC.

Among those who are familiar and actively check labels, nearly nine in ten, 88%, report using it to guide purchase decisions, with 58% doing so often or always, according to IFIC and Food Safety Magazine.

Food Safety Magazine noted that IFIC presented those figures as evidence of how an existing voluntary system is already used during shopping trips.

For label designers and retailers, the implication highlighted by IFIC is accessibility: front-of-package guidance is encountered and used at the point of decision, not only on the back-panel Nutrition Facts label.