Village Journals
Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
Resonate your identity with Naseeb journals. Express your opinions, share your thoughts, post your writings and connect with like minded people through the power of expression.
How Consumers Use the Label - US & UK Study
Once the label was coined, it was only natural to conduct research to look into how it was put into use by consumers.
The nutritional label is being used by the consumer as a tool, said Taylor, to make dietary choices but not to build their diet. "As much as you'd like to think that they would use the food label to build their diet and track it during the day, that's very unusual. You have to be a highly motivated person in order to use the food package for that purpose," she said, adding that the customer may get frustrated because packaged foods are not the only thing they eat.
In a study conducted by the International Food Information Council (IFIC), it was found that 54 percent of customers look at the list of ingredients and nutrition information when deciding which food to purchase or eat (FDA).
"We asked them what kind of information they were aware of on the food package label. The caloric information actually rated higher than the dietary fat information. On other surveys that I've done in the past, when you talk about food labels they usually talk about fat first. This shows that there are some changes that are occurring in the mindset," said Sue Borra, Senior Vice President and Director of Nutrition at IFIC.
According to a US study conducted by the Food Marketing Institute in 2004, shoppers used labels to manage ailments such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes or osteoporosis (Everage).
Younger consumers were more interested in information that would help them lose weight, according to the survey, which showed that 40 percent of shoppers purchased products claiming to be low in carbohydrates. Of these consumers, 66 percent were attracted to low-fat claims on products, and 55 percent bought them because they were low in saturated fats.
"Similarly, half of all consumers purchase certain foods because the packaging claims that they are 'high' in certain nutrients, such as calcium or vitamin C, or claim to be 'vitamin rich' or 'vitamin fortified.'"
A study in the UK conducted by the Food Standards Agency also showed that people checked calories first as well as fat content (FoodNavigator.com).
A study was conducted among middle-income women in South Africa in 2001 to evaluate their attitudes towards and their knowledge of nutritional labeling (Anderson). The results of the survey showed that although middle-income women lacked nutritional labeling knowledge they had a positive attitude towards nutritional labeling.
Nearly 65 percent of the consumers surveyed said that they read food labels when buying food items, and a higher percentage, almost 80 percent, said they use the labels when buying new products. More consumers read nutritional labeling at home (57.8 percent) than during general food purchasing (52.8 percent). Consumers who read nutritional information also claimed to understand it and use it to assist them in making food purchases.
The researchers recommended the standardization of information presented on labels. They also said that there's a need for a "nutritional labeling education program in South Africa." The purpose of the program, they said, would be to motivate consumers to make use of nutritional information on food labels in order to choose foods that will contribute to a balanced diet. By choosing foods according to their nutritional values and assessing the content of new foods added to their diet, consumers would thus take responsibility for their health.
The nutritional label is being used by the consumer as a tool, said Taylor, to make dietary choices but not to build their diet. "As much as you'd like to think that they would use the food label to build their diet and track it during the day, that's very unusual. You have to be a highly motivated person in order to use the food package for that purpose," she said, adding that the customer may get frustrated because packaged foods are not the only thing they eat.
In a study conducted by the International Food Information Council (IFIC), it was found that 54 percent of customers look at the list of ingredients and nutrition information when deciding which food to purchase or eat (FDA).
"We asked them what kind of information they were aware of on the food package label. The caloric information actually rated higher than the dietary fat information. On other surveys that I've done in the past, when you talk about food labels they usually talk about fat first. This shows that there are some changes that are occurring in the mindset," said Sue Borra, Senior Vice President and Director of Nutrition at IFIC.
According to a US study conducted by the Food Marketing Institute in 2004, shoppers used labels to manage ailments such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes or osteoporosis (Everage).
Younger consumers were more interested in information that would help them lose weight, according to the survey, which showed that 40 percent of shoppers purchased products claiming to be low in carbohydrates. Of these consumers, 66 percent were attracted to low-fat claims on products, and 55 percent bought them because they were low in saturated fats.
"Similarly, half of all consumers purchase certain foods because the packaging claims that they are 'high' in certain nutrients, such as calcium or vitamin C, or claim to be 'vitamin rich' or 'vitamin fortified.'"
A study in the UK conducted by the Food Standards Agency also showed that people checked calories first as well as fat content (FoodNavigator.com).
A study was conducted among middle-income women in South Africa in 2001 to evaluate their attitudes towards and their knowledge of nutritional labeling (Anderson). The results of the survey showed that although middle-income women lacked nutritional labeling knowledge they had a positive attitude towards nutritional labeling.
Nearly 65 percent of the consumers surveyed said that they read food labels when buying food items, and a higher percentage, almost 80 percent, said they use the labels when buying new products. More consumers read nutritional labeling at home (57.8 percent) than during general food purchasing (52.8 percent). Consumers who read nutritional information also claimed to understand it and use it to assist them in making food purchases.
The researchers recommended the standardization of information presented on labels. They also said that there's a need for a "nutritional labeling education program in South Africa." The purpose of the program, they said, would be to motivate consumers to make use of nutritional information on food labels in order to choose foods that will contribute to a balanced diet. By choosing foods according to their nutritional values and assessing the content of new foods added to their diet, consumers would thus take responsibility for their health.