UNPACKING CHOICES: A STUDY ON FOOD PACKAGE INFORMATION USE AMONG WELLNESS SEEKERS AND THOSE MANAGING LONG-TERM ILLNESSES

Introduction: Nutrition labels were designed to help consumers choose foods according to their health status. Detailed nutritional tagging is essential to help buyer be informed about the component of the food and enabling consumers to make healthy choices according to their health status. Therefore, this study aims to assess and compare usage nutrition labels among healthy individuals and individuals with chronic diseases. Methodology: A validated questionnaire was used to collect data from the sample of 410 participants through convenient sampling technique. Subjects recruited were healthy individuals and individuals with chronic diseases, aged ≥ 18 years. Version 20 of SPSS was used to analyzed the obtained data. Chi square test (level of significance 0.05) was used to determine the current knowledge and usage of food and nutrition labels among study participants. Results: The results revealed that majority of the study participants (52%) were healthy, while (48%) are diagnosed with chronic disease. Additionally, results show that 85% individuals with chronic diseases read food and nutrition label. However, on contrary statistically no significant difference was identified (p = 0.192) in usage of nutritional labels among healthy individuals and individuals with chronic diseases. Conclusion: The usage of food label and nutrition facts information is common among population and the information consumers focus on food and nutrition labels is halal certification and date of expiry.