Awareness and Use of Nutrition Information on Labels of Packaged Snacks by Commuters in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Abstract

Objective: The awareness and use of nutrition information on labels of packaged food snacks by commuters on Aba Road – Port Harcourt was investigated. Methodology: Purposive sampling was used to select two (2) heavy traffic zones among others from the road. Simple random sampling was used to select 200 respondents from the two (2) zones. Questionnaire and interview were procedures employed for data collection. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The result revealed that 95.0% of the respondents bought road snack because they were hungry. About 68.0% of the respondents had knowledge of food labels and 71.0% claimed they were aware of nutrition information on food labels. Only 57.0% and 40.0% of the respondents read labels on pastry foods and beverages, respectively before purchase. About 32.5%, 20.0% and 20.5% of the respondents check expiring date only, nutrient content only and both expiring date and nutrient content on pastry goods, while only 50.0%, 19.0% and 0.5% of the respondents check the coldness of the drink, expiring date only and nutrient content of beverages before purchase. Positive relationship existed between use of nutrition information and educational level, frequency of purchase or knowledge of nutrition and food labels (P<0.05). Conclusion: Findings revealed high awareness of nutrition information but poor usage of nutrition information among commuters on high ways.