Hierarchy of nutritional knowledge that relates to the consumption of a functional food

Nutritional knowledge most likely correlates with consumption when people have attribute-related knowledge of the food and consequence-related knowledge of how it will benefit them. It is not the amount but the type of knowledge that matters. Educational strategies based only on attribute-related knowledge of functional foods and healthy products (“passing the nutrition quiz”) may not effectively encourage the actual consumption of the food. Health care professionals and dietitians must link food attributes with personal health consequences when communicating to their patients.