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PURCHASING GUIDE Food labels can be very interesting literature. For some peopl

PURCHASING GUIDE Food labels can be very interesting literature. For some people, trying to decipher the cryptic text in food containers and packages is an amusing mental exercise, a kind of distraction to eating processed goodies containing multi -syllabic, hyphenated ingredients they cannot pronounce, like sodium caseinate, xylitol, aspartame, monosodium glutamate, evaporated cane juice, partially-hydrogenated vegetable oil. In the process, they would also check out the fat, calorie and sodium contents based on the daily allowable intake indicated in the nutrition label. Many of these label readers would have no idea what the words meant. A person trying to avoid sugar, for example, would probably think that the product containing evaporated cane juice is a better alternative, not knowing that it is actually just sugar that underwent different processing. Not surprisingly, a consumer study confirms this lack of understanding of food labels among consumers. According to a global Online Consumer Opinion Survey conducted by AC Nielsen in 2005, which polled 21,261 respondents from 38 countries from the Asia Pacific, North and Latin Americas, Africa, and Europe, half of consumers worldwide only partially understand the nutritional labels on food packaging. Yet, in spite of this partial understanding, 20% of consumers would always check labels while 40% of consumers worldwide would check the labels when buying a product for the first time - the Philippines coming out among the top 10 countries whose consumers would do so. The study also showed that nearly 30% read the labels whenever they would buy certain food types. Consumers were most likely to check for fat, calories, and sugar content, as well as preservatives, coloring and additives. However, 44% said they did not know the difference between saturated and unsaturated fat. While 21,000 survey respondents would hardly be a representative sampling of the world’s billions of consumers, the study does say something important to businesses and consumers are looking for adequate information to guide them during purchases, and product information in labels and packaging is becoming a key factor in determining whether a product will be bought or not. Labeling is a powerful marketing tool in convincing consumers to buy your prod uct. Therefore, making the labeling information clear and relevant to the needs of consumers can be a vital step toward consumer patronage. Labeling, clearly, is indispensable to consumers in the exercise of their right to information and choice, and to businesses in enabling them to cater to their market’s needs and to promote their products well. But, labeling has a far more important function than merely contributing to sales; it is a double edged sword with the equal ability to misinform as much as it can provide the right information. That is why businesses and government have a big responsibility in making sure that consumers are not only given honest information about a consumer product, but that the information does not mislead them in any way. As a state policy, government is enforcing compulsory labeling to enable consumers to get accurate information as to the nature, quality, and quantity of the contents of consumer products. Minimum labeling requirements have been imposed for businesses to comply with such as registered trade or brand name, the business name and address of the manufacturer or importer, the general make or active ingredients, the net quantity of contents, and the country of manufacture. Additional labeling requirements for food products have also been imposed to protect consumers further: Food products must indicate the expiration date, whether the product is semi or fully processed, ready to cook or ready to eat, the nutritive value, and whether the ingredients used are natural or synthetic. To address issues raised by livestock farmers and consumers as to the importation of buffalo meat from India and Kangaroo meat from Australia which are being used as substitute for cattle beef and pork in various types of meat products, the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) has enforced the Philippine National Standards (PNS) requiring prepackaged meat products such as corned beef to indicate the type of meat used, whether cattle beef or carabeef. The caption “No Approved Therapeutic Claim” must be printed on the primary display panel of all labeling materials used for food supplements (i.e. immediate label of the container, box, carton, brochures, leaflets, etc.) to ensure that these products are not commercially sold or advertised with therapeutic claims. It is up to the businesses to make sure that these labeling requirements are written in a language easily understandable to consumers but ultimately, becoming knowledgeable about the meaning of the information in labels rests solely on the consumer. After all, information is useless if it is not being read and applied. uploads/Geographie/ purchasing-guide.pdf