ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES OF CONSUMERS REGARDING FOOD LABELS
Keywords:
food labels, consumers, practice, attitude, SarajevoAbstract
Food labels are the only objective link between food business operators and consumers and present a
crucial public health instrument. Food labels help consumers make better food choices, especially with regard to
health, dietary, or other cultural and social issues. However, the frequencies of use and consumer attitudes toward
food labels depend on various demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of consumers. This cross-sectional
study, which included 400 respondents, was designed to assess the frequency of use and attitudes toward food labels
among consumers in Sarajevo Canton as well as to determine barriers that hinder consumer use of food labels. An
anonymous survey questionnaire based on previously conducted studies was used as a research instrument. The
habit of reading information on food labels depends on the gender of the respondent. Respondents who “always” or
“sometimes” read food label information were mostly female (72.4% and 63.1%). The level of education had
statistical significance. Respondents with a high level of education used food labels more often than respondents
who only had primary or high school education. Information on food label that respondents (81.3%) most often read
and give highest priority was the expiration date. The most common reasons for not reading food label information
were small lowercase letters and poor legibility of the text (47.3%) and lack of time during shopping (44.0%).
Consumer education (56.7%), bigger letters (50.7%), more information for consumers (32.5%), and better legibility
(30.3%) were the respondents' suggestions on how to improve the frequency of food label use. Barriers to the use of
food labels indicated a need for better harmonization of food labels in terms of legibility, as well as the need to
improve the level of nutritional literacy through educational approaches as well as various promotional programs
adapted to consumer needs.
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