Just like a pack of cigarettes has a health risk warning on it, now researchers want junk food to have similar warnings. University of Melbourne and Cancer Council Victoria researchers find that graphic warnings—like what’s on cigarette packs—on junk food packaging would help people make better food choices.
The published article found “negative text along with images was twice as effective at changing people's choices than messages that had negative text-only content or those with images combined with positive text.”
They want the government to improve and make mandatory the Health Star Rating System on foods.
Experts across the board say "junk food" is different for each person.
Registered dietician and nutritionist at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine Kristi King said no definition compounds the issue.
“What is junk food to me may be very different than junk food to someone else. And, two, that’s when we have to examine, ‘should we be responsible for personal choice?’,” said King. “The purpose of having variety of foods is people can choose what they wish. Although, we do want people to make healthy choices, foods in moderation are ok.”