Evaluation of the habit of reading and understanding the label for consumers Niteroi, RJ

The food label is an important link between consumers and products, and may be used with important communication channel characteristics of the product. This study was carried out aiming at evaluating the habit of reading and understanding foodstuffs label content. The studied population was formed by clients of a supermarket chain located in the city of Niteroi, RJ, from September to December, 2003. Individual interviews were carried out (study quali- quantitative) in which was used a questionnaire about the labels applied to 400 customer. A database was prepared with the compiled results and the SPSS program (version 10) was used for statistical comparisons. The results regarding the quantitative part of the study showed that 61% of the studied population read the label of food products. Meanwhile, the symbol used to represent percent of daily value (% VD) in the nutritional table was understood by only 15.5%. Only 54.3% of this population believed (partially) in the label information and 74.8% of the studied population suggested changes in labels to facility the understanding. The results obtained clearly showed the urgent necessity of making easier the information given by labels, through the introduction of some modifications and also by implementing educative policies to help consumers to improve their food habits.