[Understanding and use of the front-of-pack Guideline Daily Amounts nutritional labeling of industrialized food and beverages in Mexico.]

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the use, subjective and objective under-standing of the GDA frontal labeling to assist the population towards making healthy decisions regarding the products they consume.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The use of nu-tritional information contained in products ́ packages (GDA, nutritional information table, and list of ingredients), as well as the subjective and objective comprehension of the GDA.

RESULTS: A total of 43 157 people were interviewed. Amid the labels, the nutritional table was read more frequently (11.1%). 24.6% (IC95%: 23.9-25.3) and 41.2% (IC95%: 40.4-42.1) of the interviewees classified products correctly as not healthy and high in sodium, respectively. These outcomes were smaller between the elderly, lower socioeconomic levels, lower educational levels, and rural areas.

CONCLUSIONS: The results show that the GDA labeling is not useful to support the vulnerable population to make healthy decisions.