KOREASCHOLAR

To promote use of nutrition labels, degrees of awareness, use, and satisfaction of nutrition labeling on eating-out menus were investigated by a self-recorded questionnaire from May to July 2010 in 629 participants who visited four bakery chains (n=409) and three ice-cream chains (n=220) located in Daejeon. Of the subjects 53.4% were female, 68.8% aged 20~29 years, and 59.3% visited bakery or ice-cream stores 1~3 times per month. Only 38.2% of participants had knowledge of nutrition-labeling mandates for eating-out menus, and 74.9% had seen labels before in bakery and ice-cream stores. Most subjects understood calorie amount and daily value of sodium very well, but they failed to understand the meaning of daily value. Only 21.2% of the subjects understood nutrition label information completely. Of the participants, 46.7% read nutrition labels in bakery or ice-cream stores when purchasing. Among the subjects who read the labels, 77.2% (36.1% of total subjects) referred to the label information when selecting a menu and 46.9% (21.9% of total subjects) had experienced altering their menu choice based on the information. Exactly 53.3% of subjects answered they did not read nutrition labels since they were not interested or had no time, or because the labels were not noticeable. Satisfaction of the place, timing, and format of nutrition labels at bakery and ice-cream stores fell below average overall. Many subjects wanted trans fat and cholesterol to be added to the labels. In conclusion, degrees of perception, use, and satisfaction of nutrition labels at bakery and ice-cream stores were still low. More effective publicity and consumer education about nutrition labeling will be necessary, and bakery or ice-cream companies should make efforts to improve nutrition labeling such as providing format and place.

• 최명 | Choi, Myeong
• 이정원 | Lee, Joung-Won