The Awareness of Food Labelling Information and Its Use in Purchasing of Pre pAckaged food products Among Consumers: A Case Study of Dansoman in the Accra Metropolis

ABSTRACT

Food labels provide information from manufacturer to consumer about a particular prepackaged food. This study was conducted in the Accra Metropolis, specifically Dansoman community to explore the awareness of food labelling information among consumers and its use in purchasing pre-packaged food products. The objectives of the study were to determine the awareness level of consumers, evaluate the usefulness of food labelling information, explore the kind of information consumers prefer to see on labels and the difficulties consumer’ encounter in reading and understanding food labels. The study utilised the quantitative and descriptive research approach. The researcher used simple random sampling to select 120 participants for this study from the various supermarkets in the community. The researcher used observation and questionnaire to collect data from respondents. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages and means were used to analyse the data collected. The study revealed that the awareness of pre-packaged food labelling information among consumers is relatively high (67.5%). Consumers were of the view that food labels were important and necessary since it helped them to avoid buying expired or unsafe products. The study also revealed several difficulties that consumers encounter in reading and using food labelling information such as small font sizes, technical/scientific language and use of unfamiliar and foreign language. The study concluded that the awareness of prepackaged food labels among consumers is relatively high, however, understanding and use of such information was low. Also, the most important and understood food label information to consumers is the manufacture and expiry dates. The study recommends that stakeholders like the Ghana Standards Board should design and implement special public education programs aimed at informing consumers on the importance of food labelling information and how best they can use it to make informed choices. Policy makers should think of developing a consumer guide on reading and interpreting food labelling information.