Food manufacturers and packaging companies are advised to make the labeling on products clear and easy to understand, as 20 percent of grocery shoppers always check the information labels before deciding what to buy, according to a recent report by market research and information company ACNielsen.
In an online survey, ACNielsen polled over 21,100 respondents in 38 markets worldwide to find out how much they understand food labeling, when they check labels and what they look for as they shop.
It found that 40 percent of the respondents check food labels only when buying a product for the first time, while nearly 30 percent check the label when buying certain food types.
"For manufacturers of packaged goods, the product's nutritional composition and the clarity of the information on the nutrition panel are critical at the point of product trial," said Gordon Stewart, the managing director of ACNielsen Taiwan.
"Whether the product contents meet the consumers' selection criteria, and how easily the label is understood, can determine whether or not the consumer proceeds to purchase the product, or return it to the shelf," he said.
The Taipei-based Consumers' Foundation (消基會) said that incomplete or unclear food labeling has been a long-standing problem in the domestic market, as some manufacturers fail to abide by the Commodity Labeling Law (商品標示法).
"The labels must bear essential information like warning signs, where the product was produced, ingredients, expiration date, the names and addresses of the manufacturers, and customer service hotlines. But sometimes there is no Chinese-language labeling on imported commodities," said Terry Huang (
He cited the detailed labeling regulations in the EU and Japan as good examples of protecting consumers' interests.
Even if consumers pay attention to the labels, however, they do not always understand what they are reading, the survey found.
Half of the world's consumers said they only "partly" understand the nutritional labels on food. The figure for the Asia-Pacific was the highest in the world at 60, followed by Europe (50 percent) and Latin America (45 percent).
North Americans were the most conversant with food labeling, with 64 percent claiming to "mostly" understand food panels.
In Taiwan, 8 percent of respondents said they do not understand the nutritional labels at all.
Stewart said that manufacturers could boost sales by improving the labeling.
"If they can't understand the label, they may not risk the purchase," he said.
Huang urged the public to cultivate the habit of always checking labels and making sure they understand the information offered.
Globally, the ingredients consumers are most likely to check are fat (49 percent), calories (43 percent), sugar (42 percent), preservatives (40 percent), colorants (36 percent) and additives (36 percent).
Consumers in North America and Latin America mostly check fat, calorie and sugar levels, while preservatives, fat, colorants, additives, and calories topped the list in the Asia-Pacific region.
"Greater education on food ingredients and labeling is a must and the pressure is on food manufacturers and packaging companies to simplify the message and garner greater trust among consumers in their product claims," Stewart said.
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