Nutritional labels should be placed in the centre of food packaging rather than in one corner in order to attract consumer’s attention, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

Most nutritional fact labels in the US are placed on the periphery on food packages at present and may be less likely grab a potential consumer’s attention, reserarchers noted.

The study asked 203 people to look at 64 different grocery products on a computer screen.

It found that when the label is placed in the centre, the average consumer reads one or more sections of 61% of the labels, compared with 34-37% among study participants assigned to view labels on either the left or right side of the packaging.

In addition, labels in the centre were viewed for 30% longer than the same label located to one side.

The research also revealed that most of the consumers view label contents that are close to the top than those at the bottom of the label.