CONSUMER AWARENESS OF NUTRITION INFORMATION ON FOOD PACKAGE LABELS

Consumer awareness of nutrition information on food labels was evaluated by probing the reported importance, understanding and use of ingredient lists, claims and nutrition panels. As part of a larger study, 820 in-home interviews were conducted with principal grocery shoppers (80% women, 20% men) in five cities across Canada. Seventy percent of respondents considered nutrition to hc ''very'' or ''extremely'' important in their food choices. Sixty-four percent claimed to read food package labels for nutrition information; 71% did so when choosing between products in the store. Respondents reported only minor variations in the importance, understanding or usability between ingredient lists (82- 77- 78%). claims (78- 83- 75%) or nutrition panel (74- 71- 70%), respectively. Complexity was the greatest barrier to ingredient list and panel usability; credibility was the main barrier to claims use. French-speaking respondents reported greater importance, usability and understanding of all three components than English-speaking respondents. Fifty-nine percent of respondents did not want additional nutrition information on food labels; 26% suggested improvements to enhance understanding of what is already there. Approximately half of consumers indicated they would find nutrition information useful for meat, eggs and fresh produce. Further study is needed into whether actual product selection mirrors reported awareness.