Consumers form perceptions of various food products through their comprehension of the visual stimuli on food packaging that attract their attention. These perceptions directly affect their purchasing decision at the point of purchase, which emphasizes the importance of attention‐capturing packaging attributes. However, little research is available regarding consumers' perceptions of food packaging, especially in the South African context. This study aimed to explore a sample of South African consumers' perceptions of food packaging and how these perceptions were formed through the perceptual process. A qualitative, exploratory study was conducted by means of 25 semi‐structured interviews and through the use of ambiguous mock packaging as a projective technique. Participants were questioned regarding their general perceptions of food packaging. The attention‐capturing ability of packaging as well as consumers' interpretation of this packaging after exposure to the mock packaging was also discussed. Findings from the study indicated that participants mainly based their perception of food packaging on its functional (being purposive, recyclable and informative) and physical attributes (being attractive, of high quality and hygienic). This study also indicated that information and visual attributes of packaging are important to gain consumers' attention in‐store. Participants' comprehension of packaging included general associations of specific food products with certain types of packaging, such as associations with quality and shelf life. Negative associations with packaging mostly entailed difficulty to handle the product, poor quality of the product and environmental problems. This study identifies those product attributes that participants regarded as the most important stimuli for forming positive perceptions regarding food packaging. It is important for manufacturers to pay attention to the information on perceptions that was gained in this study, as it might help them to create packaging that better fulfil consumer needs. These findings could also be applied in a larger study of a quantitative nature, which will ultimately result in more positive consumer shopping experiences and consumer satisfaction regarding food packaging.

New labelling legislation in South Africa is expected to help consumers sustain a healthy lifestyle through the food choices they make. This study was undertaken to explore a sample of South African consumers' reasons for reading labels and the influence of food labels on their purchasing behaviour. The study was conducted using focus group discussions held with label reading consumers in Potchefstroom in the North West Province of South Africa. Findings suggested that these participants read food labels to assess the nutritional value, personal benefits, health attributes and product quality. Various purchasing influences were also identified, suggesting that consumers are in some cases motivated by food labels to purchase a product, or may be unresponsive to the label or indifferent by being aware of the information but not reluctant to buy a product that does not indicate essential information. Several indirect consideration factors such as situational factors (e.g. family), extrinsic (e.g. price) and intrinsic (e.g. taste) may contribute to the purchasing behaviour of some consumers. These findings are useful to propose a perceptual model of the way in which food labels influence purchasing behaviour of a sample of South African consumers and explain the role of food labels in the purchasing decision of label-reading consumers. This information is especially significant for new packaging and labelling initiatives as it highlights the reasons why label-reading South African consumers read label information.

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The globally recognised link between diet and health needs to be communicated to consumers to facilitate healthy food choices. Thus, this paper aims to determine South African (SA) metropolitan consumers' opinions and beliefs about the food-health link, as well as their opinions and use of health information on food labels. Design/methodology/approach -A cross-sectional study using fieldworker-administered questionnaires was conducted. Using stratified randomised sampling, 1,997 respondents were recruited. The data were weighted to represent the metropolitan SA adult population (n ¼ 10,695,000). Findings -Practically significantly more respondents agreed than disagreed there is a food-health link and that health messages on food labels are supported by scientific research. Respondents' opinions on health information on food labels were mostly positive, as confirmed by the average opinions for the different ethnic groups. The results identified a lack of interest, time and price concerns, and habitual purchasing as reasons for not reading food labels. Health-concerned respondents also considered labels as important health information sources. Practical implications -Consumer education on the food-health link and the use of health information on food labels should address the deficiencies identified through the opinions and use of food labels by these respondents. Originality/value -Representative results of SA metropolitan consumers in this study are significant since third world countries are burdened by various diseases and former studies only used limited-sized non-probability samples which could not be generalised.

Objective: To determine the ability of consumers to: locate and manipulate food label information; assess the accuracy of nutrient content claims and which health/nutrient claims are allowed; and identify symbols on food labels. Associations pertaining to use and knowledge regarding food label information were also determined for consumers from different demographic and related groups. Design: An exploratory descriptive study was undertaken, employing a faceto-face survey focusing on demographic information, shopping behaviour, nutrition is important beliefs, label use, label knowledge and label preference and information sources. Setting: Selected public locations in Potchefstroom in the North West Province of South Africa. Subjects: Respondents (n 229) complying with set inclusion criteria were recruited through purposive sampling. Results: The results indicated respondents' general health and label awareness, as most of them (.80 %) could locate label information and identify symbols and specific nutrient content claims although only 53 % were able to calculate the number of servings. Nevertheless, an inability was found to assess the accuracy of some nutrient content claims and permissible health/nutrient claims. More educated, younger, Afrikaans-and English-speaking respondents seemed to be more knowledgeable regarding food label information. Conclusions: Respondents who were informed about nutrition were also informed about label information, while label reading practices resulted in labelinfluenced purchasing decisions. Educational programmes on food labels should start with nutritional background that could be implemented by consumers during label reading and purchasing decisions.

Eighty-nine intact male, castrates and female South African indigenous goats in three age groups (0, 2 -6 and 8 permanent incisors) and two pre-slaughter conditioning groups; namely, the non-conditioned which were slaughtered within three months of purchase and the pre-slaughter conditioned, which were slaughtered 6 -10 months after purchase or birth were used. The effect of sex, age and pre-slaughter conditioning on live animal, carcass dimensions and carcass composition were evaluated. The goats were large with live weight, carcass weight and carcass dimensions in the range of the large breeds of southern Africa. They had a high lean and low fat content. Intact males were suited for high chevon yield because they were heavy, had a high lean and low fat content, and losses during dressing and chilling were reduced by improved nutrition. Goats between 2 -6 teeth yielded heavy carcasses that were comparable to goats in the 8-teeth group, and had proportionately more lean and less carcass fat. The hind limb was ideal for high lean and low fat, high value cuts but the dorsal trunk was bony and yielded less lean. Pre-slaughter conditioning improved the overall size of the goats and reduced the losses during slaughter and chilling. It also improved the lean/bone and lean and fat/bone indices. _______________________________________________________________________________________