Exploring consumer knowledge, understanding and use of food and nutrition label information in the Tamale metropolis of Ghana

Abstract

The perception that consumers in low Income Countries have poor knowledge and understanding of food or nutrition labels and, therefore, do not rely on them at the point of purchase is rife. This study was aimed at assessing consumer knowledge and understanding and its influence on food label usage in the Tamale Metropolis of Ghana. An analytical cross-sectional study design was employed and mainly literate adults aged 15 to 60 years were conveniently selected and interviewed at various points-of-purchase including supermarkets, provision shops and other trading outlets. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for windows (version 19.0). Percentages were calculated and reported for descriptive statistics whilst chi-square tests of significance and regression analysis were employed to measure relationships between variables. Statistically significant differences were accepted at p<0.05. Out of the 384 consumers interviewed, 98.4% (n=378) were aware of food labels, yet, only 66.7 % (n=256) claimed they understood the labels. A large proportion (95.8%) also claimed they checked but just about 51.9% said they did so "always". Most (89.3%) claimed they are influenced by key factors on the labels with the level of influence being highest with nutrition content, followed by expiry date, health-claim, price and advertisement respectively. However, at the point-of-purchase most (79.4) revealed they looked out for expiry date. Socio-demographic characteristics including gender (p=0.009), age (p=0.017), occupation (p=0.042), educational level (p=0.022) and income (p=0.051) were significantly associated with consumers' understanding of the labels, with gender remaining the only significant predictor. Furthermore, age (p=0.054), occupation (p=0.0.007) and educational level (p<0.001) showed significant associations with food label usage. Education level (Tertiary) emerged the only significant predictor of food label usage. The level of knowledge and use of nutrition information on food packages among predominantly literate consumers in the Tamale Metropolis of Ghana can be compared to that of consumers in other parts of the world. These results may inform the need for developing an approach towards future information and education strategies for health professionals and other stakeholders interested in consumer awareness activities.

Consumer understanding and use of food labels in Ghana: A review of the evidence

“…Age, occupation, level of education, employment status, income, and marital status were positively associated with food label use (A. Aryee 2013; P. A. Aryee et al 2019;Osei, Lawer, and Aidoo 2012).. Other common factors reported in the studies that prompted consumers to use food labels were religious beliefs, food allergies, advertising, health claims, nutritional value, price, expiration date, use directions, storage information, and intolerance to certain foods. The reasons consumers gave for not using food labels were technical/scientific language, haste, small font sizes, a foreign language other than English, and time constraints (P. A.…”

“…Additionally, when respondents were asked about the frequency of use of food labels, the responses varied widely: about 52% said they do so 'always' in Tamale (P. A. Aryee et al 2019), 35.8% 'always' use the label in Accra (Aidoo 2016), 49.3% reported regular use in Koforidua (Darkwa 2014) and a national study among tertiary students reported that 31.3% use labels 'very often' (Madilo et al 2020). When purchasing a food product for the first time, only 37.2% used the label in Kumasi (Osei, Lawer, and Aidoo 2012).…”

“…The reasons consumers gave for not using food labels were technical/scientific language, haste, small font sizes, a foreign language other than English, and time constraints (P. A. Aryee et al 2019;Madilo et al 2020).…”

University students’ awareness and use of ecolabels: A case of the university of education, Winneba

“…Hence, ecolabels have received considerable attention in scholarly literature in the last decade. For instance, some studies focused on the impact of ecolabels on consumer behaviour (Brécard, Hlaimi, Lucas, 12 URL: www.onlinesciencepublishing.com | February, 2023 and use of ecolabels, although there are several studies on consumers' understanding and use of nutrition labels with varied findings though (Affram & Darkwa, 2015;Aryee et al, 2019;Osei, Lawer, & Aidoo, 2013). Hence, there is a need to understand whether consumers in Ghana, specifically students are aware of and use ecolabels in their purchasing decisions (Taufique, Siwar, Talib, Sarah, & Chamhuri, 2014;Testa, Iraldo, Vaccari, & Ferrari, 2015).…”

Individual’s Own Consent and External Support Shape Consumer Decision towards Healthy Packaged Food Intention

“…Although food labels are mandatory but to understand the numerical display of food related information is a hindrance for consumer. Food processing organizations and policy makers have taken initiatives for designing food labels easy to understand for average consumers (Grunert, Wills & Fernandez-Selemin 2010;Aryee et al, 2019).…”