Payesh (Aug 2012)
Knowledge and practice of consumers in food labels in Tehran, 2008-2009
Abstract
Objective (s): This study was carried out to determine the knowledge and practice of consumers in food labels and in Tehran, 2008-2009.Methods: In this descriptive and cross-sectional study, 2123 individuals were selected by random cluster sampling from the chain stores in Tehran. Data on demographics and knowledge and practice of consumers were collected by a questionnaire. The SPSS program and Chi2 test were used for data analysis. Results: In this study, the age range was 16-65 years and majority of them were 40-60 years. About 60% of the subjects were women. 80% of them were married and had at least diploma degree. A high percentage of consumers (44.2%) were in the lowest classification score of knowledge about the information printed on food packages. 82.8% of the subjects claimed they read food labels when shopping. The study of the consumers' views about the information printed on the food labels showed the satisfaction of about half of them, regarding the place and readability of the production and expiry date on food packages. However, more than half of subjects mentioned that nutrition information on food packages were non-readable and unintelligible, and were not in an appropriate position on the food packages. The findings revealed the effect of knowledge on the use of food labels. So those in the highest classification score of knowledge about food labels paid more attention to the food labels as compared with those in the lowest classification score of knowledge. Conclusion: This study showed that knowledge of people with information on food labels is very low and nutritional knowledge has a strong effect on nutritional practice. The results suggest that standardized food label designs, long term nutrition education, and training interpretation of information listed on food labels and the importance of using it in order to select the correct food to reduce the nutritional diseases is necessary.
