Investigation of energy, nutritional and reference intake values in food products labels

Food labels are an efficient food policy tool that reduces the costs of accessing information about the healthiness of food products in the food market where information asymmetry between producers and consumers is high. Studies to increase the effect of food labels on making consumer preferences healthier have increased. Labels should contain the necessary information at the point of food preference. Depending on the developing market economy in our country and in the world, the factors affecting the choice of the consumer are changing and developing. In order to adapt to the world economy, many changes have been made in the Turkish legislation. Considering food safety and economy, food consumption perception, consumer rights, mobility in the national and international food market, changing production technologies, and changing health factors, it has become mandatory to use new expressions in food labeling legislation in our country. Nutrient tables are defined as a science that classifies foods according to their nutrient content. Nutrient tables are used in many areas such as food labeling, helping the consumer to choose healthy and suitable food for their purpose. In the chain markets in Trabzon and Gümüşhane, the label information of 4619 packaged foods consisting of 1178 different brands were collected between November 2020 and March 2021. % 14.49 of the obtained food labels were milk and dairy products, % 12.14 drinks, % 24.25 sugar and sugar products, % 5.11 meat and meat products, % 20.82. It consists of bakery products, cereals and dried legumes, % 7.58 ready-to-eat foods, % 3.46 fat, and % 12.15 other food groups. It has been determined that % 89.65 of the products examined within the scope of the study have a nutrition declaration. % 85.0 of all products with nutrition notifications are labeled on the back of the packaging (BOP), % 10.0 on the front of the packaging (FOP), and % 5.0 as BOP and FOP labeling. As stated in the regulation, it has been determined that the ratio of the products for which the nutrition declaration is made over 100 g or 100 mL is % 99.93. When evaluating the conformity of the nutrition notification to the display format given in the regulation, it was determined that % 80.42 of the products were made according to the order in the display format. The presence of reference intake (RA) rate notification was observed in % 34.89 of the products with a nutrition declaration. It has been determined that % 97.44 of the products for which RA rates are given in the nutrition declaration have the expression "Reference intake (RA) value of an average adult (8400 kJ / 2000 Kcal)". The ratio of the notification on the amounts of energy, total fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, sugar, protein and salt within the scope of mandatory nutrition declaration is % 99.90, % 99.76, % 94.16, % 99.44, respectively, for all products, It was found to be % 93.82, % 99.66, % 94.93. Within the scope of the study, it was observed that % 86.89 of the products with nutrition notifications did not contain trans fats. Among the notifications supporting the mandatory notification, it was found that the highest rate of fiber was % 52.21 in the products with nutrition notifications, and the lowest notification was starch with % 0.53 In addition, the energy values and the amount of nutrients in the product packages examined within the scope of the study were examined and compared with the calculation factors and method given in the regulation by examining the energy content of the products within the scope of TGK. As a result, it was seen that the number of products meeting the energy value found as a result of the calculation of the energy value given in a total of 4141 products was 1733, and 2408 products did not meet this. It has been determined that the ratio of energy value meeting the calculated energy value in all products with a nutrition notification is % 41.85. As a result . In the "TGK Food Labeling and Consumer Information Regulation" under the heading "Compliance Obligation", it has been stated that nutrition declaration for all products should be completed in accordance with the regulation until 31/12/2019. It is thought that the appropriateness of nutrition reports will be beneficial in terms of observing the changes with broader studies.