A TERM PAPER REPORT ON CONSUMER HEALTH AND ITS

ISSUES IN FOOD PRODUCTS

SUBMITTED BY
GROUP- B
BACHELOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH
7TH SEMESTER, 13TH BATCH
NATIONAL ACADEMY FOR MEDICAL SCIENCES

FOR THE PARTIAL FULLFILLMENT OF BACHELOR DEGREE

OF SUBJECT PUBLIC HEALTH ETHICS, SOCIAL HEALTH AND
PROFESSIONALISM (COURSE CODE OF 407.3-PHESHP) FOR
PUBLIC HEALTH

SUBMITTED TO
PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT
NATIONAL ACADEMY FOR MEDICAL SCIENCES
PURBANCHAL UNIVERSITY
KATHMANDU, NEPAL

2022
 APPROVAL SHEET

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the subject Urban Health, Public Health
Engineering and Disaster Management, this report entitled “A TERM PAPER REPORT
ON CONSUMER HEALTH AND ITS ISSUES IN FOOD PRODUCTS” has been
prepared and submitted by ‘Group- B’ and hereby recommended for approval and
acceptance.

This report has been approved by,

………………………………. …………………………….
Internal Examiner External Examiner
Mrs. Vijaya Laxmi Shrestha Mr./Mrs./Ms. …………….
Date: …………………………. Date: …………………………….

ii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to express our gratitude to our subject teacher as well as HOD Mrs. Vijaya
Laxmi Shrestha for giving us the opportunity to prepare this term paper. She gave us
moral support and guided in different matters regarding this topic. We thank her for her
overall support.

We would like to express our gratitude to our subject teacher Mrs. Amita K.C. for
providing all the required information for the report.

We would also like to acknowledge with much appreciation to our Principal Mr. Ram
Bahadur Shrestha and faculty teachers Mr. Pratik Shrestha and Mr. Nikesh Khanal
for providing every possible guidance and kind coordination. This study has helped to
understand more about the food related issues faced by the consumers.

All the group members along with our classmates have also helped us to complete this
paper.

We are thankful to everyone who supported us, for that we have completed our report
effectively and moreover on time.

Group-B

Bachelor of Public Health

7th semester/4th year

National Academy for Medical Sciences

2022

iii
 GROUP INTRODUCTION

This was a group assignment consisting 6 peoples in a group;

S.N. NAME SYMBOL NO. SIGNATURE

1. Alisha Thapa
2. Chandrika Pandey
3. Diwakar Chaudhary
4. Ranjana Thebe
5. Yaman Chaudhary
6.

iv
 ABSTRACT

Consumer health is concerned with individuals' decisions regarding the purchase and usage
of available health products and services that have a direct impact on their health. There
are several consumer health issues, with service-related illnesses being one of the most
prevalent in society. Food products have a variety of issues, including labeling, packaging,
manufacture and expiration dates, as well as food components, all of which have an impact
on consumer health.

The purpose of this study is to study the consumer perceptions and issues, as well as the
risk connected with these issues. The study was done on the population aged 18-30 years
with total sample size 40. Semi-structured questionnaires were used for data collection
through online survey. The confidentiality and privacy of the respondents were maintained.
The collected data were analyzed in excel sheet and Microsoft word and presented in bar
diagram, pie-chart.

All of the respondents were aware of healthy products, with 62.5 % defining them as
natural and organic. This also means that 35% of respondents were more aware of healthy
food options, and 27% of respondents purchased food based on its healthfulness. Food
goods with no labeling (47.5 percent), the presence of cancer-causing substances (45
percent), and food additives and ingredients are among the current key challenges faced by
respondents (42.5%).

Therefore, following the safety of the healthy food products, many steps can be
implemented to make food products healthier, which benefits the general public such as
permitting labeling statements and educational campaigns, ways for modernizing
standards, and making ingredient customer friendly.

v
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
APPROVAL SHEET ...................................................................................................... ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................. iii
GROUP INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... iv
ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................v
LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................... vii
LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................... viii
CHAPTER I ....................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................1
1.1 BACKGROUND ...............................................................................................1
1.2 RATIONALE .........................................................................................................2
1.3 OBJECTIVES ...................................................................................................2
1.3.1 GENERAL OBJECTIVE .................................................................................2
1.3.2 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES ...........................................................................2
CHAPTER II ...................................................................................................................3
METHODOLOGY ..........................................................................................................3
2.1 Study Population ....................................................................................................3
CHAPTER III..................................................................................................................4
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ...................................................................................4
3.1 Findings .................................................................................................................4
3.1.1 Socio-demographic Information .......................................................................4
3.1.2 Knowledge and Issues in Food Products ..........................................................6
3.2 Discussions .......................................................................................................... 14
CHAPTER IV ............................................................................................................... 16
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................ 16
4.1 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 16
4.2 Recommendations ................................................................................................ 16
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 17
ANNEX ........................................................................................................................ 18

vi
 LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Distribution of respondents according to age ......................................................4

Table 2: Distribution of respondents according to district ................................................5
Table 3: Types of product purchased by respondents ..................................................... 11

vii
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Distribution of respondents according to gender: ..............................................5

Figure 2: Distribution of respondents according to educational status ..............................6
Figure 3: Knowledge of respondents on healthy food products ........................................6
Figure 4: Level of awareness of respondents on food products .........................................7
Figure 5: Basis for purchasing food of respondents ..........................................................7
Figure 6: Frequency of purchasing food of respondents ...................................................8
Figure 7: Places from where respondents shop food products...........................................8
Figure 8: Observation of ingredient list and nutritional panel facts of respondents while
buying products ...............................................................................................................9
Figure 9: Observation of manufactured and expiration date by respondents .....................9
Figure 10: Observation of packaging information while purchasing food products ......... 10
Figure 11: Purchasing of food products that is new or uncharacterized .......................... 10
Figure 12: Knowledge on adverse effects with the use of food or their ingredients of
respondents.................................................................................................................... 11
Figure 13: Respondent's satisfaction regarding healthy food products ............................ 12
Figure 14: Reason of respondents for using food products ............................................. 12
Figure 15: Current major issues faced by respondents in food products.......................... 13
Figure 16: Measures that can be adopted to make food products healthy ........................ 13

viii
 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND
Consumer health is a state of well-being enjoyed by people who buy products and use
services that research deems safe. Consumer health deals with the decisions of the
individuals made about the purchases and use of the available health products and services
that will have a distinct effect on the health.

Consumer health is recently introduced subject in the context of our country. It has been
started in Nepal after the enforcement of the Consumer Protection Act, 2054, with the
objective of making consumers aware of their health. In the beginning, the concept of
consumer health was initiated keeping in mind the adverse effect to consumer while buying
and using the medicines randomly. Now, the scope of consumer health has been widened
as it deals with all kinds of health problems created due to the consumption of the goods
and products available in the market. The right to safety, the right to be informed, the
freedom to choose, and the right to be heard are all examples of consumer rights.

With the increase in practice of consumer health, the consumer health issues are also
increasing. There are plenty of consumer health issues among which service related issues
is one of the most arising problems in the society. The services are intangible products or
actions that are typically produced and consumed simultaneously. It may include food,
beverages, clothing, shoes, gasoline or any other products that are sold in the market.
Services relates issues include misleading information, issues in healthy products and
health care and cost and access issues.

Health products are the goods or things that people take or use. They are the products
supposed with providing health benefits. It may be consumable such as medicine, foods,
or drinks or non-consumable such as tools for body exercise, relaxing music, equipment
for health improvement, and many more. Healthy product issues includes uses of unproven
health products, drugs products, blood products, food products, home and garden or
agriculture pesticides, cosmetics and others, unfair trade practice, label or packaging of the
product, date of manufacture or expiry, company , address etc.

1
1.2 RATIONALE
The major goal of this survey is to identify consumer health risks associated with food
service. There are a number of issues with food products, including labeling, packaging,
manufacture and expiration dates, and food components, all of which have an impact on
consumer health. As a result, this study is carried out in order to examine consumer
understanding and issues, as well as the risk associated with these difficulties.

1.3 OBJECTIVES
1.3.1 GENERAL OBJECTIVE
i. To determine the service related consumer health issues in food products among
consumers.

1.3.2 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

i. To identify the level of knowledge on healthy food products,
ii. To determine the use of healthy food products,
iii. To identify the issues faced by the consumers while buying the food products,
iv. To determine the preventive measures to overcome the issues while buying
food products.

2
 CHAPTER II

METHODOLOGY
2.1 Study Population
Population aged 18-30 were selected as a study population.

2.2 Sample Size

Total of 40 sample were selected as sample size.

2.3 Study Tools

Semi-structured questionnaire i.e. both close and open ended questionnaire were used for
collecting the information.

2.4 Study Techniques

Online based self-administered technique was used to collect data.

2.5 Data Analysis and Interpretation

The collected data were analyzed in Excel sheet and MS-word and presented in dummy
table, bar diagram, Pie-chart and line graph.

2.6 Ethical Considerations

Informed consent was taken before the data collection. Confidentiality and privacy of the
respondents were maintained and protected.

3
 CHAPTER III

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

3.1 Findings
There was a 100% response to the online based survey on consumer health issues in food
products. This result clearly shows that the high number of people were aware about the
basic knowledge of health issues due to food products. The following results shows the
practices of the respondents.

3.1.1 Socio-demographic Information

Table 1: Distribution of respondents according to age

S.N. Age Frequency Percentage

1. 18-22 24 60%

2. 23-27 15 37.5%

3. 28-32 1 2.5%

The above figure describes that the respondents of age 18-22 category were high which is
60% and the respondents from age 23-27 were 37.5% and 2.5% of respondent was from
28-32 age category.

4
Figure 1: Distribution of respondents according to gender:

Gender

47.50%
52.50%

Male Female

Above diagram shows that there were 52.50% male respondents and 47.50% female
respondents.

Table 2: Distribution of respondents according to district

S.N. District Frequency Percentage

1. Bara 1 2.5%
2. Banke 1 2.5%
3. Bhaktapur 1 2.5%
4. Chitwan 1 2.5%
5. Jhapa 2 5%
6. Kathmandu 33 82.5%
7. Lalitpur 1 2.5%
Above table shows that the majority of respondents were from Kathmandu i.e. 82.5%
whereas there were also the respondents from different districts such as Bara, Banke,
Bhaktapur, Chitwan, Jhapa and Lalitpur.

5
Figure 2: Distribution of respondents according to educational status

Educational status

17.50%

82.50%

Bachelor and above Higher secondary

The above diagram describes that the educational status of 82.50% respondents were
bachelor and above whereas 17.50% were from higher secondary level.

3.1.2 Knowledge and Issues in Food Products

Figure 3: Knowledge of respondents on healthy food products

Knowledge on food products

80.00% 62.50%
60.00% 47.50%
40.00% 27.50%
20.00% 7.50%
0.00%
High in healthy Free from artificial Low in unhealthy Natural and
components or ingredients, components or organic
nutrient preservatives or nutrients
additives

The above bar diagrams show respondents' knowledge of healthy food items, with 62.50
% believing that healthy food products are natural and organic, and 7.50 % believing that
they are low in unhealthy components.

6
Figure 4: Level of awareness of respondents on food products

Level of awareness on food products

40.00%
35%
35.00% 32.50%
30%
30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
10.00%
5.00% 2.50%
0.00%
Low Average High Very high

On a scale of 1 to 5 i.e. from very low to very high, 35% of respondents had high level of
awareness on food products whereas only 2.5% had low awareness.

Figure 5: Basis for purchasing food of respondents

Basis for purchasing food

80% 67.50%
60% 50%
40%
25% 22.50%
17.50%
20%

0%
Taste Price Healthfulness Sustainability Brand

Above bar diagram clearly represents that 67.50% of respondents buy food on the basis of
healthfulness and only 22.50% respondents’ purchase food on sustainability basis.

7
Figure 6: Frequency of purchasing food of respondents

Frequency of purchasing food

10%
5%

85%

once in a week once in a month when needed

The above pie-chart describes that 85% of respondents bought food regularly when
needed and 10% and 5% respondents once in a week and once in a month.

Figure 7: Places from where respondents shop food products

Shopping of food
12.50%
2.50%

52.50%
32.50%

supermarket vendor grocery store local shop

From the above diagram, we can say that 52.50% respondents shop from local shop
whereas only 2.50% shopped from vendor.

8
Figure 8: Observation of ingredient list and nutritional panel facts of respondents
while buying products

Observation of ingredient list and nutritional panel facts

20%

80%
yes no

The above figure represents that 80% of respondents see ingredient list and nutritional
panel facts while buying products and 20% didn’t.

Figure 9: Observation of manufactured and expiration date by respondents

Observation of manufactured and expiration date

2.50%

97.50%
yes no

Above diagram shows that 97.50% respondents see manufactured and expiration date
while buying products whereas 2.50% of respondents don’t.

9
Figure 10: Observation of packaging information while purchasing food products

Observation of packaging information

70% 65%
60%
50% 42.50%
40% 35%
30%
20% 15%
10%
0%
Brand name Calorie and other Statement about Statement about
nutrition nutrition health benefit
information benefits

The above bar diagram show that 65% of respondents checked calorie and other nutrition
information and 15% respondents looked brand name while purchasing packaged food
products.

Figure 11: Purchasing of food products that is new or uncharacterized

Purchase of the food or food ingredient that is new or uncharacterized

17.50%

82.50%

yes no

The above diagram represents that majority of respondents i.e. 82.50% wouldn’t buy the
food products that is new or uncharacterized and unproven for the safety of human
consumption whereas 17.50% of respondents would buy the products.

10
Table 3: Types of product purchased by respondents

S.N. Types of products Percentage

1. Option A has artificial ingredients like it always has and tastes 22.50%
great
2. Option B has no artificial ingredients and it tastes half as good as 77.50%
Option A

The above table clearly shows that 77.50% respondents would buy the second product
which has artificial ingredients and 22.50% respondents would buy food product which
has artificial ingredients when two products are available in a store.

Figure 12: Knowledge on adverse effects with the use of food or their ingredients of
respondents

Knowledge on adverse effects associated with the use of the

food or food ingredient

32.50%

67.50%

yes no

We can say that 67.50% of respondents had knowledge on adverse effects with the use of
available food and their ingredients from the figure. The effects described by the
respondents were food poisoning, diarrhea, hypertension, overcompensation, digestive
problems, other illness and even death.

11
Figure 13: Respondent's satisfaction regarding healthy food products

Satisfaction regarding food products

40.00% 37.50% 37.50%

30.00% 22.50%
20.00%
10.00% 2.50%
0.00%
Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very much
satisfied

Above diagram describes that 37.50 % of respondents were neither dissatisfied nor satisfied
i.e. neutral and also satisfied regarding the use of food products.

Figure 14: Reason of respondents for using food products

Reason for using food products

100% 95%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
27.50%
30%
20% 12.50%
10% 5%
0%
Concern for health Concern for status Concern for Use better quality
environment products

The above bar diagram illustrates that 95% of respondents used food products concerning
their health and 5% concerning the status.

12
Figure 15: Current major issues faced by respondents in food products

Major issues with food products

50.00% 47.50% 45% 42.50%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00% 2.50% 2.50% 2.50%
0.00%
Food products Cancer causing Food addItives and Not enough Contaminations Price discripency
without labeling chemical in food ingredients nutritional
information

Above bar diagram describes that 47.50% of respondents faced food products labeling
issues whereas 2.50% had faced nutritional information, contaminations and price
discrepancy issues.

Figure 16: Measures that can be adopted to make food products healthy

Solutions to make the food products

70.00%
60.00% 57.50% 57.50%

50.00%
40.00% 32.50%
30.00%
20.00% 15%
10.00%
0.00%
Allowing for labeling Approaches for Make ingredient Educational campaign
statements modernizing information
or claims on food standards of identity more consumer
products friendly

Above diagram shows that 57.50% of respondents choose educational campaign and
labeling proper statements on food products as a solution to make food products healthy in
order to promote health.

13
3.2 Discussions

There was 100% response on online based consumer health issues in food products where
total 40 respondents participated in our online survey, among them 47.50% were female
and 52.50% were male. 60% of respondents were of age group 18-22 and most of the
participant are from Kathmandu i.e. 82.5% respectively. Maximum number of respondents
were graduates (82.5%) and minimum number of respondents were higher secondary level
(17.5%).

All the respondents had knowledge on healthy product where 62.5% of respondents defined
healthy food products as natural and organic, 47.5% defined as high in healthy nutrients,
27.5% as free from additives or preservatives and 7.5% as low healthy components. This
also defines that 35% of respondents had higher level of awareness on healthy food
products and 27% purchased food on the basis of healthfulness. Also, 85% of respondents
purchased food when needed mostly from local shops (52.5%), grocery (32.5%).

The respondents’ i.e. 80% and 97.5% observed ingredient and nutritional panel facts as
well as manufactured and expiration dates. The packaging information such as calorie and
other nutritional information (65%), brand name (15%) and statement about health benefits
(42.5%) were checked while purchasing products. If the source of the food or food
ingredient is new or uncharacterized such that its safety for human consumption has not
been established, 82.5% of respondents would not buy that products. In presence of two
different types of products in a store, 77.5% of respondents would purchase the product
with no artificial ingredients rather than having products full of artificial ingredients.

67.5% of the respondents had proper knowledge on the adverse health effects caused due
to the use of unhealthy food or food ingredients which were food poisoning, diarrhea,
digestive problems and many more illnesses. 37.5% respondents were neutral regarding

14
the satisfaction towards the food products in the market and also other 37.5% were found
to be satisfied with use of such products.

Regarding the knowledge of the respondents, 95% respondents used food products
concerning the health and 27.5% for the better quality products. Current major issues faced
by the respondents were mostly food products without labeling (47.5%), presence of cancer
causing chemicals (45%) and food additives and ingredients (42.5%). The various
measures can be adopted like allowing labeling statements and educational campaigns
(57.5%), approaches for modernizing standards (15%) and make ingredient consumer
friendly (32.5%) to make food products healthy to promote health.

15
 CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

4.1 Conclusion
Food products have a variety of issues, including labeling, packaging, manufacture and
expiration dates, as well as food components, all of which have an impact on consumer
health. The online survey on consumer health issues in food products had a 100% response
rate. This result clearly demonstrates that a large majority of people have a good
understanding of issues of food products.

Majority of the respondents were aware about the issues in food products and purchased
food on basis of healthfulness. The respondents also observed ingredients list, nutritional
facts, manufactured as well as expiration dates following the safety regarding the healthy
food products. They were aware of the health issues concerned with the food products and
were satisfied with the use of products available in the market. Various measures can also
be applied to make food products healthy that promotes the public health.

4.2 Recommendations
Some recommendations for improving consumer health related with services in food
products are as follows;
i. Consumer should be aware of the labeling statements of the food products.
ii. Consumers should observe ingredient list, manufactured and expiration dates

while buying food products.

iii. Consumers should set their food choice according to nutritional value and not
only the price and quantity.
iv. Consumer should pay attention on adverse health effects caused by the unhealthy
food products.

16
 REFERENCES

1. Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2021, March 9). consumer

good. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/consumer-good

2. Council, International Food Information International Food Information Council.

(2017). Food and Health Safety Survey.
3. Ramos, D. (n.d.). Consumers Health. Slideshare.
https://www.slideshare.net/akosidarwin/consumers-health

17
 ANNEX
Questions
1) How would you define a healthy product or food?
a) High in healthy components or nutrients
b) Free from artificial ingredients, preservatives, or additives
c) Low in unhealthy components or nutrients
d) Natural and Organic
2) How would you describe your level of awareness about healthy products?
a) Very low
b) Low
c) Average
d) High
e) Very high
3) On what basis you purchase food?
a) Taste
b) Price
c) Healthfulness
d) Sustainability
e) Brand
4) How frequently do you buy healthy products?
a) Once a Week
b) Once a Month
c) When needed
5) Where do you shop for Food?
a) Supermarket
b) Vendor
c) Grocery
d) Local shop
6) While buying a product do you see the ingredient list and nutritional panel facts?
a) Yes
b) No

18
7) While buying a product do you see manufactured and expiration date?
a) Yes
b) No
8) What packaging information is checked while purchasing products?
a) Calorie and other nutrition information on the front of the package
b) Statements about nutrition benefits
c) Brand name
d) Statements about health benefits
9) If the source of the food or food ingredient is new or uncharacterized such that its
safety for human consumption has not been established, would you buy?
a) Yes
b) No
10) There are two products in a store, which will you buy;
a) Option A has artificial ingredients like it always has, and you know it tastes
great.
b) Option B has no artificial ingredients, and you know it tastes about half as
good as Option A
11) Are there any known adverse effects associated with the use of the food or food
ingredient?
a) Yes
b) No

If yes, what are they?

12) How will you describe your level of satisfaction regarding healthy products?
a) Very Much dissatisfied
b) Dissatisfied
c) Neutral
d) Satisfied
e) Very Much satisfied
13) What is your reason for using healthy products?
a) Concern for Health

19
 b) Concern for status
c) Concern for the environment
d) To use better quality products
14) What do you think are the current major issues with healthy products?
a) Food products without labeling
b) Carcinogens or cancer-causing chemicals in food
c) Food additives and ingredients
d) Other…………………
15) How can we make the products healthy to promote our health?
a) Allowing for labeling statements or claims on food products that could
facilitate innovation to promote healthful eating patterns;
b) Approaches for modernizing standards of identity;
c) Possible changes that could make ingredient information more consumer
friendly;
d) Educational campaign for consumers about the updated Nutrition Facts Label
that consumers will be seeing in the marketplace.

20