Consumers' knowledge of food label information: an exploratory investigation in Potchefstroom, South Africa.
Summary of "Consumers' knowledge of food label information: an exploratory investigation in Potchefstroom, South Africa."
OBJECTIVE:
To determine the ability of consumers to: locate and manipulate food label information; assess the accuracy of nutrient content claims and which health/nutrient claims are allowed; and identify symbols on food labels. Associations pertaining to use and knowledge regarding food label information were also determined for consumers from different demographic and related groups.
DESIGN:
An exploratory descriptive study was undertaken, employing a face-to-face survey focusing on demographic information, shopping behaviour, nutrition is important beliefs, label use, label knowledge and label preference and information sources.
SETTING:
Selected public locations in Potchefstroom in the North West Province of South Africa.
SUBJECTS:
Respondents (n 229) complying with set inclusion criteria were recruited through purposive sampling.
RESULTS:
The results indicated respondents' general health and label awareness, as most of them (>80 %) could locate label information and identify symbols and specific nutrient content claims although only 53 % were able to calculate the number of servings. Nevertheless, an inability was found to assess the accuracy of some nutrient content claims and permissible health/nutrient claims. More educated, younger, Afrikaans- and English-speaking respondents seemed to be more knowledgeable regarding food label information.
CONCLUSIONS:
Respondents who were informed about nutrition were also informed about label information, while label reading practices resulted in label-influenced purchasing decisions. Educational programmes on food labels should start with nutritional background that could be implemented by consumers during label reading and purchasing decisions.
Affiliation
1Department of Consumer Sciences, Private Bag X6001, North-West University, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa.
Journal Details
This article was published in the following journal.
Name: Public health nutrition
ISSN: 1475-2727
Pages: 1-6
Links
- PubMed Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22672957
- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S136898001200287X
Medical and Biotech [MESH] Definitions
Unified Medical Language System
A research and development program initiated by the NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE to build knowledge sources for the purpose of aiding the development of systems that help health professionals retrieve and integrate biomedical information. The knowledge sources can be used to link disparate information systems to overcome retrieval problems caused by differences in terminology and the scattering of relevant information across many databases. The three knowledge sources are the Metathesaurus, the Semantic Network, and the Specialist Lexicon.
Medlineplus
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE service for health professionals and consumers. It links extensive information from the National Institutes of Health and other reviewed sources of information on specific diseases and conditions.
Food Technology
The application of knowledge to the food industry.
Technetium Tc 99m Exametazime
A gamma-emitting radionuclide imaging agent used in the evaluation of regional cerebral blood flow and in non-invasive dynamic biodistribution studies and myocardial imaging. It has also been used to label leukocytes in the investigation of inflammatory bowel diseases.
Encyclopedias As Topic
Works containing information articles on subjects in every field of knowledge, usually arranged in alphabetical order, or a similar work limited to a special field or subject. (From The ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science, 1983)
PubMed Articles
OBJECTIVE: To identify the information that adult consumers use on food labels, the difficulties they experience when using food labels and their reasons for not always using food labels. The relation...
Influence of Nutritional Knowledge on the Use and Interpretation of Spanish Nutritional Food Labels.
The present study analyzed the nutritional knowledge of Spanish consumers and its relationship with the correct use of food labels. Consumers were asked about their nutritional knowledge and some...
OBJECTIVES: To examine the correlates of trans fat knowledge and trans fat label use; to examine the influence of trans fat knowledge, trans fat label use, and dietary attitudes on intake of high tran...
Attentional capture and understanding of nutrition labelling: a study based on response times.
The aim of the present work was to assess the influence of nutrition information format on attentional capture and consumers' understanding. Sixteen labels of two products (yoghurt and pan bread) were...
Food allergy--science and policy needs--The UK Food Standards Agency Research Programme.
Food allergy is a significant health issue in the UK, affecting between 1 and 2% of adults and 5 and 8% of children. The UK Food Standards Agency seeks to ensure the safety of food allergic consumers...
Clinical Trials
Behavioral Economics and Food Choice
This is the second in a series of pilot interventions we are conducting to assess how principles from behavioral economics can be applied to improve consumers' food choices. In collaborati...
(Mis)Perceptions About Healthy Eating: Effects on Food Intake and Appetite in Men and Women
In the face of an increased prevalence of obesity and chronic diseases in Canada, much effort has been invested to educate the population about healthy eating. Although Canadians are now a...
Understanding Patient's Knowledge and Use of Acetaminophen
Introduction to Study Objectives: In a joint collaboration of the Centers for Education and Research on Therapeutics (CERTS) at The University of Pennsylvania and the M.D. Anderson Cancer...
National Cancer Institute Food Study
Information about Americans' food choices and opinions helps researchers and law makers to develop policies and programs to promote health. For this reason, it is important to be able to...
Safe Water Techniques in Kenya
Consumer preferences for POU technologies vary across consumers and products, and largely determine their adoption and subsequent usage. This is a marketing study that asks which products...
