Table 1.

A summary of indicators that are used in the Funnel Model to describe aspects of front-of-pack (FOP) labels.

Indicator	Explanation
Components	Product criteria of FOP labels may take into account qualifying components, i.e., components in a food product beneficial for health, and/or disqualifying components, i.e., components in a food product with a negative impact on health.
Reference unit	Product criteria of FOP labels may be expressed per 100 g/100 mL, per 100 kcal/KJ, in Energy% and/or per serving, amongst others.
Measurement method	Compliance of foods with the FOP label’s product criteria may be determined on the basis of calculated scores and/or threshold values.
Coverage	Product criteria of FOP labels are either developed for a selection of food categories, or they cover all food categories at once. ‘All food categories’ includes at least all pre-packaged foods, but does not include specific products, such as infant formula, alcoholic beverages and food supplements.
Methodological approach	When FOP labelling systems make use of the same set of criteria for all or most food categories, they use an across-the-board approach. When different criteria have been developed for different food categories, a food-category-specific approach is used. We do not consider liquid versus solid foods to be food-category specific, as the composition of food categories within these groups can still be very variable.
Purpose	The primary aim of FOP labels may be, for example, to inform consumers about the nutritional contribution a food product makes to the diet, help consumers identify healthy foods and/or to stimulate product reformulation by the food industry. FOP labels may have several purposes.
Driver	This refers to the driving force behind a FOP label (at the time of the writing of this article); a driver may be governmental, commercial or be part of a non-governmental organisation (NGO).
Directivity	This specifies to what degree the FOP label leaves interpretation of ‘healthiness’ of a product to the consumer. Non-directive FOP labels only present factual nutrient information, semi-directive FOP labels combine factual information with easy-to-interpret visuals (e.g., color coding), and directive FOP labels merely summarise the ‘healthiness’ of a product without displaying any nutritional information.
Tone of voice	A FOP label may convey a positive (‘healthy’), mixed (mixture of ‘healthy’ or ‘unhealthy’) or negative (‘unhealthy’) health message.
Utilization	In case of voluntary use, food firms may choose whether or not to use the FOP label on-pack. When a FOP label is mandatory, often determined by national regulations or legislation, food firms are forced to use the label.