How Clear Are Food Labels? Understanding Consumer Awareness under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006

Abstract

Food safety and consumer rights are inalienable, and consumers have right to quality and wholesome food and accurately labelled food helps them to make informed choices. In India, the Food Safety & Standard Act 2006 plays an important role to safeguard consumer’s interest and welfare that sets comprehensive standards for manufacture, sale, input and labelling of food products. The Act further strengthens consumer rights by providing a legal framework in labelling the food & prevent harmful practices like food adulteration & misleading claims. This Article explores how the consumers understand the food labels based on an empirical study conducted with 120 packaged food consumers in Kolkata. Using structured questionnaires, the study identifies key gaps in consumer awareness, comprehension of nutritional information, and trust in advertising claims. The study was conducted using surveys through questionnaires and the study identifies key gaps in consumer awareness and regulatory compliances. The findings reveal that many customers failed to interpret nutritional and safety information provided on the food packages due to inadequate awareness. Regulatory shortfalls are also identified as the priority areas for improvements in food safety management.