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

Abstract

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 products. 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 consumers 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 frequency 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.