Reza Sameni, Atefeh Eslami, Afshin Afshar, Jalal Ghafarzade,
Volume 10, Issue 3 (9-2021)
Abstract
Objective: Food product labels are one of the most important factors in health promotion and public hygiene by giving the right to choose a healthy product according to the physical conditions of the people of the society, and it will help consumers when buying the product.
Methods: According to the obligations imposed by Iran food and drug administration about the insertion of the nutritional color marker in the food labels (traffic lights nutrition information), in this study, the knowledge and attitude of consumers about the color-coded nutrition labels in food and drink products were evaluated through filling the questionnaire using 912 consumers in 15 food stores in Karaj county.
Results: The results showed that about 28% of individuals have used traffic lights nutrition information so far. In addition, education level had a significant and direct relation to the use of the color indicator, but age and gender did not show any significant effect on it. The results also revealed that the most important resource for the acquisition of nutritional information is the internet and social networks. The most important factor that consumers paid attention during the purchase of foodstuffs was the date of production and expiry, which included about 70% of the participants.
Conclusion: the results of this study indicate that the people of the community are interested in their choice of nutritional items, but information and knowledge in this field are not sufficient and it is necessary to continue through the responsible organizations as well as mass media.
