Proceedings of International Congress on Bioactive Compounds and International Workshop on Bioactive Compounds
Proceedings of 2nd International Congress on Bioactive Compounds

The first contact of consumers with any product is through its packaging, and food labels can be used as a marketing tool. Food labeling is strictly regulated to ensure that all information provided to consumers is true and relevant. Given the above, this study aimed to evaluate the habit of reading food labels by adult consumers. The current project was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Lavras – UFLA, under report number: 5.118.525. Exploratory research was realized, through a questionnaire, online using the Google Forms platform to evaluate the prevalence of reading labels by consumers and what information was consulted. A total of 264 people participated in the research, 78% female, 62% were between 18 and 40 years old, and had high schooling (73% had completed higher education). Of the participants, 96% read food labels. The most consulted information is the expiration date and product brand, 88% and 72%, respectively, followed by the list of ingredients (56%), date of manufacture (52%), nutritional table (51%), method of use and characteristics of the product (both 38%) and origin of the product (31%). The results are in agreement with findings from other studies that also show a sample formed mainly by young women, who are responsible for the purchases of the house and with a high level of education, and that the most consulted information is the expiration date and the nutritional value. The results show that the consumer reads what interests him and does not evaluate all the information contained in the labels in an integrated way. This behavior demonstrates the need to emphasize to the consumer the importance of observing the validity of the products and, mainly, of guiding them to examine all the information available on the labels, aiming at better food choices. It is known that food labeling has the function of information, and the consumer must exercise the practice of reading at the time of purchasing the product; however, some studies have shown that most consumers have difficulty in understanding and using the labeled information. Therefore, we can conclude that while most consumers have the habit of reading the labels of food products, there is still a need for educational campaigns concerning the appropriate use of this labeled information so that this information can contribute to the choice of products by consumers, emphasizing not only the importance of observing the validity of products but also of considering the nutritional information and ingredients of the product, to have healthier food choices.