Consumers’ views and use of labels on food items sold in Bulawayo urban province, Zimbabwe

Abstract

Food labels are a medium by which consumers acquire knowledge about packaged foods they are considering to purchase. The label makes the first impression about a product and has a great effect on the purchasing decision for consumers. In recent years, literate consumers have become interested in nutritional issues. Lifestyle, age, dietary and safety concerns have been the contributing factors to nutritional awareness by consumers. Nutritional labels can generally have a positive impact on food consumption and may save health-care costs for those consumers with health concerns. On the other hand, for those consumers who are illiterate, price may be more important in making purchase decisions. This study intended to investigate how consumers in Bulawayo Urban Province (Zimbabwe) view and use labels on packaged food items. Seventy-five randomly selected consumers were questioned about their perceptions, attitudes and use of label information using open ended structured questionnaires. The consumers were selected on the basis of being present at the supermarkets at the time of sampling. The respondents were interviewed at different times of the day to cater for employed and unemployed people. The results obtained indicate that the extent to which food labels are used depends on factors such as price of food products, individual health needs and gender. For consumers who use food labels to make their purchase decisions, not all the information on the label is considered. Items on the labels to which the consumers responded were brand, nutritional profile and mass of product in relation to the price. The label elements which were extensively used by consumers in this study are date mark (81.3%), weight of food (89.3%) and price (77.3%). The least used element is the nutritional panel (50.7%). About 44% of the consumers were not sure about the trustworthiness of the information given on food labels. Food labels are important to a greater extent for people with special dietary requirements, while the remainder of the studied population are influenced by price in their purchase decisions. Consumers seem not to understand some of the information on the food labels because of the difficulties in interpreting what is written.

Analysis of Urban Maize Yield Response to Urban Sprawl in a Changing Climate: Case of Harare Metropolitan City

“…However, Moyo [4] pointed out how urban agriculture's potential was constrained by a complex of factors that include invasion due to the growth of built-up areas, land tenure insecurity, erratic water access, small plot sizes, inadequate capital for optimizing plot productivity, and ambivalent application of urban land-use laws. A similar study by [6] confirmed that urban agriculture contributes significantly to food security in Old Pumula, Bulawayo, but also revealed that urban farmers are faced with severe land shortages and are restricted by by-laws from practicing urban agriculture. Evidently, urban agriculture is valuable enough that trends in production need to be analyzed as cities grow.…”

“…Although previous studies such as Moyo et al. [11], Mbiba [5], and Ncube and Ncube [6] stressed the value of urban agriculture in sustaining the lives of citizens, especially the low-income strata, studies that relate the growth of cities to food security in Zimbabwe are scarce. Unfortunately, as most of the planted area is not registered with the municipalities for the purposes of formal agriculture, it is hard to quantify the contribution of urban farming to livelihood and food security in response to city expansion trends.…”

Consumer Awareness, Knowledge, Understanding, and Use of Nutrition Labels in Africa: A Systematic Narrative Review

“…Some other articles reported that difficulty in understanding was a substantial barrier to consumer use of nutrition labels. In Zimbabwe, one article reported that mistrust of nutrition labels (44.0%) was the principal barrier to the use of nutrition labels (Ncube et al, 2017). All the research articles from Lesotho and Malawi did not report on barriers to consumer use of nutrition labels (Kasapila & Shawa, 2011; Mahgoub et al, 2007).…”

“…In South Africa, those who speak English, the educated, and the young were the categories of consumers identified as likely to use nutrition labels (van der Merwe et al, 2013). Furthermore, a study in Zimbabwe identified only females as consumers likely to use nutrition labels (Ncube et al, 2017). Finally, in Nigeria, Malawi, and Ethiopia, the educated, female, and high-income earners were the categories of consumers reported as likely to use nutrition labels (Falola, 2014; Feyisa et al, 2021; Kasapila & Shawa, 2011).…”