ASSESSING CONSUMER AWARENESS AND USAGE OF NUTRITION LABELS ON PRE-PACKAGED FOODS IN SAGNARIGU MUNICIPALITY

Abstract

Together with the excessive consumption of pre-packaged foods, insufficient awareness and use of nutrition labels have been linked to the rising epidemic of diet related chronic diseases. In Ghana, people are increasingly consuming pre-packaged foods, which are generally associated with high salt, sugar and fat contents, and other elements that can be harmful to health. This makes the use of the nutrition label very important. Therefore, this study sought to assess consumer level of awareness and use of nutrition labels on pre-packaged food products, in a study involving 400 respondents in Sagnarigu municipality of the Northern Region. Chi squared (χ2) tests were performed to observe any differences between those who had high awareness/low awareness of nutrition labels, those who used nutrition labels/did not use nutrition labels, and some socio-demographic & health related factors . Logistic regression with associated odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals was used to determine factors which predicted awareness and use of nutrition labels. The findings of the study showed that 87.8% of respondents were aware of nutrition labels but only 80.3% used the nutrition information. Educational status was the only factor associated with awareness. No positive associations were found between the socio demographic, health factors, special diet status and nutrition label use. Basic education was the sole predictor of nutrition label awareness. But after adjusting for employment, basic education and secondary education were the only correlates of high level of nutrition label awareness. Basic education was also the only predictor of nutrition label use. After adjusting for employment however, no significant predictors of nutrition label use were found. In conclusion, the study found that awareness of nutrition labels on pre-packaged foods was high but use of nutrition labels was relatively low.