How do consumers  use nutrition label information?

Higginson, Cathy; Kirk, Terry; Rayner, Mike; Draper, Susana

doi:10.1108/00346650210436253

Cited by 78 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…In a study of French consumers' use of nutritional information Mannell et al (2006) found that the majority of the respondents do not read nutrition labels because of lack of interest. After an exhaustive review of European studies Higginson et al (2002) observed that studies of nutrition label use reveal generally low levels of use of the information. They cite studies which indicate that in the UK although 62 percent of consumers are aware of nutrition labels only 22 to 59 percent of adults look for information on nutrition when shopping.…”

Section: Nutritional Information Usementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Higginson et al 2002). Freckleton (1986) as cited by Higginson et al (2002) found that the most common use of nutritional information is to compare nutrition profiles between two different makes of the same product. Other common uses indicated in this study include finding out how the product fits in with the rest of the diet or meal.…”

Section: Nutritional Information Usementioning

confidence: 99%

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Consumer Awareness and Usage of Nutrition Information in Botswana

Themba¹,

Tanjo²

2013

BMH

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Nutrition information enables consumers to make informed decisions when purchasing and consuming food products. Despite this, the issue of consumer awareness and usage of nutrition information has attracted little research attention in developing countries. This study presents findings of an empirical investigation of nutrition information awareness and usage in Botswana. The study is descriptive and data was collected using a structured questionnaire administered to a sample of 150 consumers in Gaborone, the Capital City of Botswana. A mall-intercept technique was used in the selection of the respondents. The main findings of the study indicate that the level of awareness of nutrition information among the sampled consumers is relatively high, and that the majority of them use nutrition information to inform food purchases. The study further finds that whereas nutrition information awareness does not significantly differ across the demographic segments, usage differs. Lack of knowledge and interest are the main factors that prevent consumers from using nutrition information. Nutrition information is mostly used when comparing products or when buying food products for the first time. These findings highlight the need to improve nutrition education in Botswana. The findings also suggest that food producers in Botswana need to use nutrition information to differentiate their products from competitors'. Similarly, the findings highlight the need for the food industry in Botswana to establish more effective nutrition information labeling standards. However, these findings need to be interpreted with caution as they are based on consumers' self-report of nutrition information use, which is highly subjective.

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Section: Nutritional Information Usementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Nutritional Information Usementioning

confidence: 99%

Consumer Awareness and Usage of Nutrition Information in Botswana

Themba¹,

Tanjo²

2013

BMH

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“…However, objectively assessed use and understanding appears to be lower (1) . Despite high rates of reported use, Higginson et al (2) found that Scottish shoppers used nutrition labels for only 4 % of food purchases on an everyday shopping trip. This increased to 33 % of products when participants were asked to do a healthy shop.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutrition labels: a survey of use, understanding and preferences among ethnically diverse shoppers in New Zealand

Gorton

Mhurchú

Chen

et al. 2009

Public Health Nutr.

121

148

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Objective: Effective nutrition labels are part of a supportive environment that encourages healthier food choices. The present study examined the use, understanding and preferences regarding nutrition labels among ethnically diverse shoppers in New Zealand. Results: Reported use of nutrition labels (always, regularly, sometimes) ranged from 66 % to 87 % by ethnicity. There was little difference in ability to obtain information from the NIP according to ethnicity or income. However, there were marked ethnic differences in ability to use the NIP to determine if a food was healthy, with lesser differences by income. Of the four label formats tested, STL and MTL labels were best understood across all ethnic and income groups, and MTL labels were most frequently preferred. Conclusions: There are clear ethnic and income disparities in ability to use the current mandatory food labels in New Zealand (NIP) to determine if foods are healthy. Conversely, MTL and STL label formats demonstrated high levels of understanding and acceptance across ethnic and income groups.

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“…Prior exposure to food labels also limits consumers' information searching and consequently saves them time during food purchase (5) . Previous research has found that consumers tend to read the information that is supplied on food labels without really understanding it, which limits the effective use of food labels (6) . At present, although food labels offer consumers more complete, useful and accurate information than ever before (7) , some research studies state that food labels contain too much information, which makes it difficult for consumers to understand them (4) .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Adult consumers’ understanding and use of information on food labels: a study among consumers living in the Potchefstroom and Klerksdorp regions, South Africa

Jacobs

Beer

Larney

2010

Public Health Nutr.

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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 relationship between their understanding of the information on the food label and their ability to make informed food choices was also investigated by means of their being required to perform labelling tasks. Design: A cross-sectional and descriptive research approach was followed. Data were collected by means of the administration of questionnaires. Setting: Selected supermarkets in Potchefstroom and Klerksdorp in the North West Province, South Africa. Subjects: Questionnaires were administered to 174 consumers of African descent and Caucasians, $18 years of age, who were involved in purchasing household food products. Results: The information that is mostly used on food labels includes the expiry date, the list of ingredients and nutritional information, such as fat and cholesterol content. The difficulties associated with food labels were indicated mainly as being the font size of the print, whereas the reasons for not reading food labels were related to product attributes ('taste and price are more important than is the nutritional content of the food product'), demographic characteristics ('lack of education and nutritional knowledge') and situational factors ('experiencing time constraints'). Conclusions:Results from the present study indicated that the expiry date was the most important information on a food label used by consumers. Scores from the labelling tasks showed that the respondents did not always understand how to use the information on food labels in order to make informed food choices. Barriers to consumer understanding and the use of food labels are highlighted. Improvements on current food labels in South Africa are suggested. Guidelines for consumer education regarding the use of food labels are also provided. Keywords Food label Understanding UseSouth Africa is a country that is characterised by a wide diversity of cultures and a vast range of public health issues. Such health issues are associated with infectious and chronic diseases, rapid urbanisation, lifestyle factors and the adoption of a Western type of diet (1,2) . Furthermore, many South Africans do not know how to choose the right type and quantities of food to satisfy their nutritional requirements (3) . Therefore, there is a need to help South African consumers make better food choices during food purchasing.The food label forms an integral part of the consumers' decision-making processes, as it provides nutritional information that could assist them in making healthy food choices (2,4) . Prior exposure to food labels also limits consumers' information searching and consequently saves them time during food purchase (5) . Previous research has found that consumers tend to read the information that is supplied on food labels without really understanding it, which limits the effective use of food labels (6) . At present, although food...

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How do consumers use nutrition label information?

Cited by 78 publications

References 5 publications

Consumer Awareness and Usage of Nutrition Information in Botswana

Consumer Awareness and Usage of Nutrition Information in Botswana

Nutrition labels: a survey of use, understanding and preferences among ethnically diverse shoppers in New Zealand

Adult consumers’ understanding and use of information on food labels: a study among consumers living in the Potchefstroom and Klerksdorp regions, South Africa

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