Consumers’ exposure to claims on pre-packed bread: the case of a developing country, Lebanon

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to assess the exposure of Lebanese consumers to nutrition and health claims (NHCs) on pre-packed bread. Design/methodology/approach Bread samples (n = 354) from all the bakeries (n = 44) located in Mount Lebanon, between 2017 and 2018, were assessed. Breads with nutrition claims were analyzed using standard methods. A cross-sectional study was also conducted among 400 supermarket shoppers. Findings Results showed that among the collected samples of bread (n = 354), 59.6 per cent carried at least one claim, 47.2 per cent had non-nutrient claims, 32.5 per cent had nutrition claims and 15.3 per cent presented health claims. Claims related to sugar, salt and fiber content were the most commonly used (28.8 , 16.4 and 14.7 per cent, respectively). NHCs were mostly present on whole wheat bread. Breads with claims were more expensive. Half of the participants (49.8 per cent) relied on NHCs whenever purchasing bread, especially females (OR = 2.35, 95 per cent CI = 1.44-3.84, p = 0.001), those following a specific diet (OR = 4.56, 95 per cent CI = 2.02-10.25, p < 0.001) and those with the lowest household income (OR = 0.795, 95 per cent CI = 0.639-0.989, p = 0.040). Originality/value The overall findings showed that Lebanese consumers are highly exposed to NHCs, especially those at higher risk which could lead to serious public health issues if their use is not strictly regulated and controlled. Moreover, NHCs could be used as a tool to increase consumers’ awareness and help them make healthier choices during shopping.

Food packaging design and consumer perception of the product quality, safety, healthiness and preference

“…Moreover, those who agree on stating nutrition and health claims on the package were significantly older and had a higher BMI. Among 400 Lebanese supermarket shoppers, half of them (49.8%) reported relying on these claims during purchasing bread especially women (OR 2.35, 95% CI = 1.44-3.84, p = 0.001), those following a specific diet (OR= 4.56, 95% CI = 2.02−10.25, p < 0.001) and those with the lowest household income (OR = 0.795, 95% CI = 0.6390.989, p = 0.040) (Bou-Mitri et al , 2020). Vila-López and Kuster-Boluda (2016) showed that women pay significantly more attention to informative cues than men and consumers looking for low fat foods or low in calories will pay more attention to packaging information (both visual and informative elements).…”

“…To our knowledge, this is the first study conducted in the Middle East and Arab region to examine the effect of packaging material, color and label on perceived food quality, safety, healthiness and preference. Previous studies were limited to evaluating food labels, purchasing habits or use of claims (Hassan and Dimassi, 2017; Bou-Mitri et al , 2020). Some limitations are present.…”

“…In the past few years, the Lebanese consumers started losing confidence in the food supply due to serious food safety scandals reported in the mass media (Beer, 2014). Several breaches were highlighted in the food safety system ranging from a list of unsafe products to unsafe practices, which have increased consumer awareness and might have resulted with more demanding population in term of the safety, quality and healthiness of their food (Banna and Nawas, 2016; and Bou-Mitri et al , 2020). In addition, more than 90% of the Lebanese food products exported to the United States of America had been rejected due to mislabeling or misbranding (FDA, 2019).…”

Salt Reduction Initiatives in the Eastern Mediterranean Region and Evaluation of Progress towards the 2025 Global Target: A Systematic Review

“…These countries include Egypt, Iran, Jordan, KSA, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Sudan, and the UAE. Most of the KAB surveys were based on questions relating to knowledge of the adverse health effects of high salt intake, attitudes towards the reduction of salt intake and its importance, as well as consumers’ behavior such as adding salt to food prior to tasting, or cooking with low-salt products [ 29 , 30 , 52 , 54 , 70 , 75 , 79 , 82 , 87 , 88 , 125 , 126 , 127 , 128 , 129 , 130 , 131 , 132 , 133 , 134 , 135 , 136 , 137 , 138 , 139 , 140 ].…”

Perception and preferences of processed sweet foods: differences between diabetic and nondiabetic consumers

“…Several previous studies evaluated the impact of healthy claims on the consumer's perception. A systematic review showed that claims can help consumers to easily interpret and select healthier products, compared to food products with only a nutritional table (Hersey et al, 2013;Bou-Mitri et al, 2020a). Conversely, other research (Bialkova et al, 2016) showed that the effectiveness of the claims depends on the health motivation of the consumers and on the individual product perception (as healthy/unhealthy).…”