Survey of consumers'knowledge,attitude and practice towards nutrition labeling of Pre-Packaged Food in Wenzhou

Objective To guide consumers and provide the scientific basis for the reasonable diet through analysis of management status and existing problems towards pre-packaged food nutrition labeling. Methods 600 consumers and clerks were surveyed in random in seven large supermarkets of Wenzhou. The data were collected through residents' completing the questionnaire themselves or through being interviewed and was analyzed by SPSS13.0. Results 600 people were interviewed and 581 valid questionnaires returned, including 216 males and 365 females with the mean age as (40.2±11.7) years. Pre-packaged food nutrition label cognition rate was 73.5%.79.2% of consumers thought nutrition labels were necessary to be marked. However,only 8.9% of consumers could understand correctly the nutrition labels. 97.2% of consumers would read nutrition labeling when they chose and bought pre-packaged food.36.1% of consumers were willing to choose and buy according to the information on nutrition labels. Conclusion Though the cognition status of pre-packaged food nutrition labeling in Wenzhou consumers were high, but consumers' really understanding and using degree were low.To enable consumers to recognize and use correctly pre-packaged food nutrition labeling, the relevant departments should carry out various kinds of education and guidance to popularize knowledge of nutrition.It will provide the basis for implementing and perfecting nutrition label specification in Wenzhou in future.