Consumer understanding of food date labels: preventing food wastage

Author:

Shamim KhalidORCID,Ahmad Shamim,Alam Md AshrafORCID

Abstract

PurposeConfusion over the interpretation of date labels is one of the main causes of food waste at the retail and consumer level. The purpose of this study was to determine consumer understanding of food date labels and to assess consumer perception of food waste based on these labels.Design/methodology/approachIt is a cross-sectional study carried out in India. Google forms were used to administer an online structured questionnaire. A total of 389 individuals participated in the study. The data were analyzed using Chi-square statistics and ordinal logistic regression.FindingsThe results affirmed that most of the consumers frequently looked at date labels while purchasing food products, but many of them did not have adequate knowledge of commonly used date label terms. In particular, respondents tended to misunderstand the “best before” date label as the last date for safe consumption, that is, a safety indicator that is not correct. The study indicated that lack of appropriate knowledge, misunderstanding of date labels and lack of complete information contributed toward unnecessary and excess discard of foods that may otherwise perfectly be safe and edible.Practical implicationsRaising public awareness, educating consumers about food date labels and pushing for standardizing the information on date labels by providing adequate guidelines to companies would enable consumers to better interpret the labels, and it would lead to lowering the unnecessary food wastage.Originality/valueThis study fulfills an important knowledge gap in respect of examining the food date label knowledge and its relationship with food waste practices in India.

Publisher

Emerald

Subject

Food Science,Business, Management and Accounting (miscellaneous)

Reference56 articles.

1. Food waste prevention in Athens, Greece: the effect of family characteristics;Waste Management and Research,2016

2. Understanding consumers' perspectives on food labelling in India;International Journal of Consumer Studies,2009

3. Consumer-related food waste: causes and potential for action;Sustainability,2015

4. Thinking on the box: design on-pack information attributes to influence consumers' food waste behavior,2019

5. Food-related routines, product characteristics and household waste in the United States: a refrigerator-based pilot study;Resources, Conservation and Recycling,2019

Cited by 6 articles. 订阅此论文施引文献 订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献

1. Perception of Food Labeling and Purchase of Food: The Moderating Effect of Food Risk Perception;Human Ecology Research;2024-02-21

2. Design-Driven Approaches to Minimize Domestic Organic Food Loss—A Case Study;Environmental Science and Engineering;2024

3. Intelligent Packaging;Advances in Marketing, Customer Relationship Management, and E-Services;2023-06-30

4. The effect of visibility of country of origin labelling on consumers' fresh meat preferences;Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics;2023-02-03

5. Influence of “best before” dates on expected and actual food liking;British Food Journal;2022-07-11

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3