Consumers' understanding of nutrition labels for ultra‐processed food products

• Published date: 01 February 2022
• Author: Khalid Shamim,Suhail Ahmad Khan,Shamim Ahmad
• Date: 01 February 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2398

ACADEMIC PAPER

Consumers' understanding of nutrition labels for

ultra-processed food products

Khalid Shamim

1

| Suhail Ahmad Khan

2

| Shamim Ahmad

1

1

Department of Agricultural Economics and

Business Management, Aligarh Muslim

University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India

2

Institute of Business management, GLA

University, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India

Correspondence

Dr. Suhail Ahmad Khan, Institute of Business

Management, GLA University, Mathura, Uttar

Pradesh, India.

Email: sakshafi@gmail.com

Nutrition labels are public health tools that provide information about nutritional

content of ingredients present in the food products. The labels assist consumers to

differentiate between alternatives and make informed choices regarding food prod-

ucts. This study is conducted in New Delhi, India to assess the consumer usage,

understanding, and influence of nutrition labels while purchasing ultra-processed

food products. Mall intercept survey was carried out to collect the data from con-

sumers with the help of a structured questionnaire. A total of 303 valid responses

were collected and analyzed through descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, and

Fisher exact test. Findings of the study revealed that most of the consumers do read

nutrition labels during purchase of ultra-processed food products but its usage fre-

quency is not up to the mark. Only about one third of the consumers read nutrition

labels “always,”whereas female consumers uses nutrition label more frequently than

the male consumers. The most common reason for reading nutrition labels was to

“eat healthy food”and “for dietary purpose”, while lack of time, lack of interest, and

difficult terminology were the most common reasons for not reading nutrition labels

at the time of purchase of ultra-processed food. It was also found in this study that

those respondents who read nutrition labels regularly during purchasing, their buying

decision gets influenced positively through nutrition label information. This study also

indicates that there is a need to promote the benefits of reading nutrition labels

among consumers of developing countries to facilitate healthy eating habits.

1|INTRODUCTION

With the advancements of technology, it is possible for the commer-

cial food manufacturers today to produce packaged food that pro-

vides numerous preferences and meets the expectations of

consumers (Temple & Fraser, 2014). As so many options are available

regarding processed foods, consumers nowadays often face chal-

lenges of understanding exactly what they are purchasing and con-

suming (Khan, Ahmad, & Bano, 2020). Every year, more than

600 million people get sick and 0.42 million die due to eating contami-

nated food (FAO, 2020). In today's time the major health challenges is

to identify the ways to assist consumers in making appropriate food

choices (Buttriss et al., 2004). In 2004, World Health Organization

(WHO) had suggested that nutrition label is one of the strategies to

help out the consumers in making selection of healthier food products

(Azman & Sahak, 2014). Food information in packaged food products

such as nutrition labeling is important than ever before and helping

consumers to make informed choices while purchasing packaged food

items (FAO, 2020; Ikonen, Sotgiu, Aydinli, & Verlegh, 2020). Nutri-

tional label is basically a description which is intended to guide con-

sumers about nutritional properties of food and to make informed

choices of food products which they are going to consume as it

should be nutritionally balanced (Juan, Zhang, Kantor, & Ali, 2013; De

Koe, 1997). It is generally presented on the back of packages but in

some cases it may also be found on the front of pack titled as nutri-

tional facts or information (Balasubramanian & Cole, 2002; Newman,

Howlett, & Burton, 2014). During purchase, nutrition labels facilitate

consumers to inform them about the nutritional content or quantity

Received: 30 June 2020 Revised: 12 August 2020 Accepted: 14 August 2020

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2398

J Public Affairs. 2022;22:e2398. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 1of8

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2398