Attitudes to Food Labelling

,q.Nrn Cadbury Typhoo, Boumtille, Birmingham, BjO 2NA After a series of pilot studies had be€n caried out, shoppers’ attitudes to most aspects of food labelling were explored by means of a mailed questionnaire. Tho results of this survey are reported. The widespread use of self-service in food shops has lessened the personal contact between housewife and shopkeeper so that the former has become more and more dependent on the food label as a source of information. This dependence becomes greater as the varieties and types of food available increase so that, in many instances, housewives have little or no past experience to draw on when selecting new food products. Little attempt has been made to establish what information is regarded as important when buying pre-packaged food, although many opinions are offered from different directions. The following is a summary of a detailed survey carried od in 1972 in order to establish more positively what house- wives want to know from labels on pre-packaged foods. During the preceding year, a number of pilot studies had been carried out amongst groups of housewives, both directly and by means of question- naires, in order to identify the for