Research on Consumers’ Cognition and Demand for Food Label Information

Abstract Food labels are the key tool for consumers to understand the basic information and characteristics of food when purchasing food. The purpose of this research is to investigate the cognition and demand of ordinary consumers on food label information in China, so as to provide relevant data for food safety supervision and management departments and food producers and operators, and to provide reference for regulatory authorities to formulate policies, for food enterprises to make food labels and for science popularization purpose. The research found that 59.69% of consumers often check labels when buying food, and the production date, shelf life and food name on the food label are the most focused information, as 93.85% and 89.54% of consumers will check respectively the production date and shelf life when examining the label. At the same time, 59.38% of consumers want the production date and shelf life to be marked in a prominent position on the food outer package; 88.31% want the production date to be marked in the order of year-month-day; 80.31% want the production date of food with a short shelf life not exceeding 72 hours to be marked to a specific hour; and 89.85% want the food shelf life to be marked to a specific date. Most consumers have encountered the problems that the labeled text is too small, or the contrast between the labeled text color and the background color is not obvious, so the labeled text cannot be clearly seen, and that the labeled text position is not eye-catching and cannot be found on the food packaging. Therefore, it is suggested to strengthen the strict management of food labels to ensure that the production date, shelf life, food name, etc. are conspicuously marked on the conspicuous positions of food labels in a standardized way.