Only 44% of Spaniards read food labels. The rest only skim the label or don't even read it, according to a study conducted by the Organization of Consumers and Users.
52% of consumers who have participated in the survey say they do not read food labels because the font size is too small. Above all, this affects consumers over the age of 60. Other problems that consumers find regarding labels are: sometimes reading some labels requires a lot of time, they are not in the habit of reading the label, because it is difficult to understand, because they do not find the information they are looking for and because they do not care about said information. .
What is the most relevant product information for consumers?
The information most consulted by consumers when they buy a product for the first time is the expiration date or preferred consumption. Followed by the list of ingredients, the nutritional information table, the place of origin or provenance and the cooking instructions. The survey carried out by the OCU reveals that although the most frequently consulted information is the expiration or best-before date, consumers do not understand it, since only 41% of those surveyed correctly answered three basic questions about the meaning of the date of expiration. Therefore, the OCU has requested a campaign from the Ministry of Consumption to inform consumers about the periods of conservation and consumption of food.
After this study, the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (Aesan), has requested a reform of the current regulations to increase the size of the label letter, currently at 1,2 millimeters, the AESAN requests 3,0 millimeters. It also asks to highlight essential information, such as the expiration or best before date and the list of ingredients.
