Abstract:

In Europe, provision of food information to consumers is governed by the Eu Reg 1169/2011: it establishes the basis for ensuring a high level of consumer protection in the field of food information by defining the principles, requirements and responsibilities that govern food information.

In the period January - March 2022 a third class of a high school in the city of Turin was involved in a series of lessons on food safety with particular reference to food labels and their interpretation. At the end of the meetings, in March 2022, students from all over the school were asked to answer a questionnaire to check their knowledge on labeling and consumer information.

The purpose of this work is to present the results of this survey with particular reference to the issues of food allergens and nutritional information; the work also aims to verify the effectiveness of the training project by comparing the responses of the students of the class involved with the responses of the students of the entire school.

The questionnaire, with 3 personal data questions and 11 knowledge questions, was created on a free online form and distributed on 17/03/2021 through the school mailbox. The answers came from 17/03 to 25/03. Out of a total of approximately 500 emails sent, 177 students, aged between 14 and 19, and 3 teachers aged between 24 and 51 replied to the questionnaire; 31% of the respondents were male, 57% female while the remainder preferred not to answer.

49% of respondents believe that consumer information is mandatory only in packaged foods; 72% know that food labels are governed by a European regulation, while 11% believe there is a national legislation and 9% a UN decision. As for food ingredients, about half of the respondents are aware that the list is reported in descending order of weight, while 25% believe that the ingredients are listed in order of nutritional importance and 14% in ascending order of weight.

Regarding food allergens, about 74% of respondents know that ingredients in bold print can cause allergies or intolerances, while 17% of respondents believe that they can be ingredients that characterize the food itself. Furthermore, among fish, pistachio and lupins, eggs and soy or fishing, only 43% of respondents correctly identified fishing as an allergen not included in Annex II of Reg 1169/2011, followed by fish (27%) and pistachio and lupins (20%). Furthermore, 74% of respondents correctly defined the nutritional information but only 58% correctly listed the values shown in the tables, others believe that starch (20%) vitamins (8%) and unsaturated fats are mandatory (14%).

The results of the classes were compared with the 22 responses from the students of the class involved in the project.

The training project revealed on the one hand a lack of knowledge of adolescents regarding the information provided to the consumer and a reduced ability to interpret food labels. However, in the class involved in the lessons and exercises there was great interest and participation with requests for further information regarding food allergens and nutritional aspects. Administering the learning evaluation questionnaire also to classes that were not involved in the project confirmed the opportunity for training of this kind to be organized on a large scale to involve a greater number of students.

Acknowledgement:
Funded by Italian Ministry of Health IZSPLV02/19RC

Keywords:

Food labels, high school, food safety.