Use of nutritional food labels and consumers’ confidence in label information

ABSTRACT Objective This investigation evaluated the use of food labels and consumers’ perception of the reliability of food labels nutritional information. Methods This is a transversal exploratory quantitative investigation, carried out in Curitiba, Brazil. A total of 536 students from a public institution participated in the survey answering a structured questionnaire. Descriptive analyses, Chi-Square test and Fisher’s exact test were performed considering a significance level of 5%. Results The participants’ mean age was 21.11±2.83 years, and 59.3% were female. It was noticed that 41.6% of consumers used the nutritional information sometimes and 14.7% always, mainly because they liked to know what they were buying and consuming (35.8%). Lack of patience (29.5%) and concern about the composition of the food purchased (34.2%) were the main reasons for not using the information provided. The most commonly used nutrition claim was “trans fat-free” (42.5%) and the type of food in which nutrition labeling was used most was milk and dairy products (42.0%). Frequent use of nutritional information was higher among women (p<0.01) and among those who practice physical activity (p=0.04). Many individuals relied on food labels nutritional information (61.9%), but out of these, 43.6% did not use that information at the time of purchase. There was no difference between respondents’ confidence in the information, sociodemographic and health data. Conclusion Many people still do not use the label nutrition information. Efforts should be made to change this scenario. Changes in nutrition labeling can help modify this situation, with the use of clearer label information, more easily understood, that does not raise any doubts in the consumers’ mind.

摘要

研究目的：本研究旨在评估食品标签的使用情况，以及消费者对食品标签营养信息可靠性的认知。

研究方法：本研究为横断面探索性定量研究，于巴西库里提巴开展。某公立院校共计536名学生参与本次调研，填写结构化问卷。研究采用描述性分析、卡方检验（Chi-Square test）与费希尔精确检验（Fisher’s exact test），显著性水平设定为5%。

研究结果：参与者平均年龄为21.11±2.83岁，其中女性占比59.3%。调研显示，41.6%的消费者偶尔会参考营养信息，14.7%的消费者始终参考该信息，主要动因是希望了解所购买与食用食品的成分（35.8%）。缺乏耐心（29.5%）以及对所购食品成分的担忧（34.2%）是不使用标签提供信息的主要原因。最常被参考的营养声称为“无反式脂肪（trans fat-free）”（42.5%），而使用营养标签频率最高的食品类别为乳类及乳制品（42.0%）。女性（p<0.01）与进行体育锻炼的人群（p=0.04）更频繁地使用营养信息。多数受访者（61.9%）会信赖食品标签的营养信息，但其中43.6%的人在实际购买时并未使用该信息。受访者对标签信息的信任程度与社会人口学特征及健康相关数据之间无显著关联。

研究结论：仍有多数人群未使用食品标签的营养信息，亟需采取措施改善这一现状。优化营养标签体系，采用更清晰、更易于理解且不会让消费者产生疑惑的标签信息，有助于改善当前局面。