Evaluation of Consumers Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Regarding Front-ofPackage (FOP) Labels at the Point of Purchase

Abstract

Samira Pourmoradian, Mohammad Naemi kermanshahi, Mahsa Ghahvechi chaeipeima, Tohid Farazkhah, Arezoo Haghighian-Roudsari

Background: Food labeling is one of the information promotion policies designed to support necessary information of the products that consumer purchase. However, food labeling giving incentives to the food industry to reformulate their products with healthier nutrients.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted as a point-of-purchase survey on 550 customers in chain stores in Tabriz, Iran. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire that assessed the respondents' knowledge, perception, and behaviors towards the information on food labels.

Results: The results showed that 91.8% of the consumers had knowledge about food label information. Among all the nutritional information included on food labels, the participants were most aware of the information about the calories and fat content of the foods. Most of the respondents (84.7%) paid attention to food labels to observe the expiration and production dates, 51.6% were looking at food prices in food labels, and only 8.7% of the participants read food labels to obtain information about the food additives and artificial color contents.

Conclusion: Our study suggests that food labeling could be an effective measure in health policy when the consumers' nutrition knowledge and awareness regarding how to use and interpret the information on food labels increases.

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