** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** IN RESPONSE TO THE OBESITY CRISIS, POOR DIETARY QUALITY, AND SUBSTANTIAL DISPARITIES, A COMBINATION OF POLICY LEVERS, INCLUDING UPDATED DIETARY GUIDELINES AND REDESIGNED NUTRITION FACTS LABELS, TOGETHER WITH INDUSTRY-LED PRODUCT REFORMULATIONS, MAY BE IMPROVING THE OUTLOOK FOR DIET QUALITY. IN 2016, THE BACK-OF-PACKAGE NUTRITION FACTS LABEL WAS MADE CHANGED SO THAT EXISTING INFORMATION, SUCH AS TOTAL CALORIES, WAS MADE MORE NOTICEABLE AND NEW INFORMATION WAS ADDED.THE LITERATURE HAS DOCUMENTED MIXED RESULTS OF HOW CONSUMERS WILL REACT TO THE NEW LABELING REGIME, WHICH MIGHT BE EXPLAINED BY MULTIPLE MECHANISMS. A STRONG THEME EMERGING FROM STUDIES BASED ON MARKET DATA IS THAT CONSUMER PREFERENCES FOR NUTRITION ARE HARD TO CHANGE, AND DIET QUALITY IS NOT LIKELY TO RESPOND TO EXTERNAL INFLUENCES. IF RIGID CONSUMER PREFERENCES ARE THE PREDOMINANT MECHANISM AT WORK, THEN NUTRITION AWARENESS POLICIES MAY BE INEFFECTIVE, AT LEAST IN THE SHORT TERM. HOWEVER, PUBLIC HEALTH AND NUTRITION POLICIES MAY BE MORE EFFECTIVE IF POOR DIETS AND DIETARY DISPARITIES ARE DETERMINED, INSTEAD, BY OBSTACLES, BARRIERS, OR CONSTRAINTS THAT AFFECT SOME CONSUMERS MORE THAN OTHERS. FURTHERMORE, WHILE THESE OBSTACLES AND CONSTRAINTS MIGHT BE RELATED TO FACTORS THAT ARE OFTEN OBSERVABLE, SUCH AS A HOUSEHOLD'S INCOME OR FOOD ENVIRONMENT, THEY MIGHT ALSO BE RELATED TO FACTORS MORE DIFFICULT TO OBSERVE, SUCH AS A HOUSEHOLD'S NUTRITIONAL LITERACY, THE ABILITY TO OBTAIN, UNDERSTAND, AND USE NUTRITION INFORMATION. OTHER DIFFICULT-TO-OBSERVE FACTORS INCLUDE A HOUSEHOLD'S LEVEL OF FOOD-PREPARATION FACILITIES, STORAGE INFRASTRUCTURE, COOKING SKILLS, OR TIME CONSTRAINTS. FINALLY, EVEN HOUSEHOLDS WITH A GOOD LEVEL OF NUTRITION LITERACY AND COOKING SKILLS MAY STILL FACE OBSTACLES INVOLVING POORLY LABELED FOOD OR MISSING NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION. IN OTHER WORDS, SOME HOUSEHOLDS THAT PREFER A HEALTHY DIET, ALL ELSE EQUAL, MAY HAVE INSUFFICIENT TIME, FACILITIES, OR NUTRITIONAL AWARENESS TO OBTAIN IT.THIS PROPOSED RESEARCH INTENDS TO INVESTIGATE THE IMPACT OF THE UPDATED NUTRITION FACTS LABEL ON CONSUMER CHOICES, PRODUCT REFORMULATIONS BY FOOD COMPANIES, AND THE OVERALL DIET QUALITY OF U.S. CONSUMERS. MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT ALSO SEEKS TO UNTANGLE THE INTERRELATED ISSUES OF NUTRITION LITERACY, NUTRITION LABELING, AND PREFERENCES TO HEALTHY OR UNHEALTHY FOOD CHOICES; AND MECHANISMS THAT UNDERLY THE ASSOCIATIONS AND LINKAGES. TO SUCCEED IN UNTANGLING AND IDENTIFY MECHANISMS, THE PROPOSED RESEARCH USES TWO COMPLEMENTARY METHODS: (I) EXPERIMENTS TO ISOLATE THE CAUSAL ROLE THAT INDIVIDUAL FACTORS, SUCH AS NUTRITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND NUTRITIONAL LITERACY, PLAY IN FOOD CHOICES; AND (II) MARKET-PURCHASE DATA (SO-CALLED SCANNER DATA) APPLIED TO BOTH REDUCED-FORM AND STRUCTURAL CAUSAL MODELS TO INVESTIGATE HOW NUTRITION INFORMATION, AS WELL AS CHANGES TO THE NUTRITION FACTS PANEL, AFFECT FOOD PURCHASES.THIS PROPOSED WORK STRESSES THE LINK BETWEEN NUTRITION INFORMATION AND PUBLIC HEALTH OUTCOMES, I,NCLUDING OBESITY AND DIABETES, THAT STEM FROM GENERALLY POOR DIETS OF AMERICANS. WHILE THE DIETARY GUIDELINES FOR AMERICANS PROVIDE STRONG CONSENSUS ON WHAT CONSTITUTES A HEALTHY DIET AND HOW DIET QUALITY SHOULD IMPROVE, THERE IS ONGOING DEBATE REGARDING THE MOST EFFECTIVE TOOLS TO ACHIEVE IT. DIET QUALITY DEPENDS ON THE NUTRITION PROFILE OF THE PRODUCTS MADE AVAILABLE BY FOOD MANUFACTURERS AS WELL AS ON WHAT CONSUMERS CHOOSE TO PURCHASE AND EAT. AN OVERARCHING GOAL OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO PROVIDE EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM MULTIPLE METHODS ON THE ROLE AND IMPORTANCE THAT NUTRITION INFORMATION, NUTRITION LABELING REGIMES, AND CONSUMER ATTITUDES AND PREFERENCES PLAY IN DIETARY CHOICES. OUR PROJECT'S RESULTS WOULD BE PARTICULARLY USEFUL FOR A WIDE RANGE OF STAKEHOLDERS, ESPECIALLY FOOD AND HEALTH POLICY MAKERS, AND ADVOCATES. FOR EXAMPLE, POLICY MAKERS AND NUTRITION ADVOCATES WOULD FIND IT USEFUL TO KNOW IF AND HOW NUTRITION LABELING REGIMES IMPACT CONSUMER BEHAVIOR OR IF BEHAVIORAL BARRIERS INTERCEDE.