More than seven in 10 shoppers want to find out more about the grocery products they buy than they are currently able to get with traditional on-package labels, according to a survey released by Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), Washington, D.C., and Food Marketing Institute (FMI), Arlington, Va. These shoppers want to go beyond the ingredients listed on the label to get information on what the ingredients do and why they are in the product.

These survey findings underscore the importance of a new digital tool known as SmartLabel, which gives consumers access to more product information than could ever fit on a traditional package label.

“SmartLabel participation has increased significantly from 4,000 products in early 2017 to nearly 28,000 food, beverage, personal care and household products today,” says Jim Flannery, senior executive vice president at GMA. “More products are using SmartLabel every week, and that’s why manufacturers and retailers are kicking off a campaign to make sure consumers know about SmartLabel and how it helps them get the additional information they want about the products they use and consume.”

“Consumers see retailers as a trusted source of information about the products they buy, and this education campaign aims to show consumers how they can use QR codes and other digital disclosure methods to seek a closer connection to the foods they eat and the products they apply,” says Mark Baum, chief collaboration officer and senior vice president for industry relations at FMI.

Atomik Research, UK, was commissioned to run an online general population survey of 1,002 U.S. adults who do the grocery shopping for their homes, whether independently or shopping for others within the household. The survey, conducted May 3-4, has a margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points with a confidence interval of 95%.