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A research project to analyze how we interact with the food products we consume everyday.

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ohresearcher1

New Member
Hi Diabetes UK community!

The following research survey is a great opportunity for the Diabetes UK forum community to help me with my MSc Food Science research project, all about understanding how people in the UK interact with their food via packaging information.

We all have the option to interact and understand the food products we buy due to the amount of information legally required on food packaging in the UK, yet understanding this information is sometimes much more complex than we anticipate, especially when we start to try and dive a bit deeper than the average consumer.

I really want to understand how people use information such as official guidance, nutritional and ingredient data, and technology to better understand what they are consuming day today and establish the issues and the gaps within these systems.

As our knowledge and quest for information has grown, so has the rise of misinformation, and it has become increasingly harder to make the correct decisions for ourselves without questioning them, and I am hoping this research project will establish how we can make important data more accessible, understandable and trustworthy.

I have been fully ethically approved for this research by MMU and kindly approved for circulation on this board by @everydayupsanddowns, and can ensure that this is fully confidential, and there are no identifiable details taken from any participant.

If you have the time to be a participant I will be very grateful, and upon publication, I will be happy to share the results on this board.

Survey Link: https://mmu.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/food-packaging-labeling-in-the-uk-and-its-influence

Thank you for your time!

Owen
 
Done! I was foxed by the question about the '14 main allergies' as I didn’t know whether this just related to food allergies or general, I had to stop and Google it! I found an article about the '14main allergens' in foods, and concluded this was probably what was meant.
If you have Diabetes, the one thing you are going to do is turn the packet over and check the carb content of the food, I’d say this is the one major thing I do with packaging, but there wasn’t anywhere on the survey to stress this point. A common problem is that foods give you the 'carb per 100g' and then don’t tell you the weight of the product, (happens with prewrapped cake bars). Or they give you the ingredients list per weight of produce 'as prepared' when you’re going to add it to a casserole or something, so you need to know how many carbs you’re adding at the cooking stage, not the serving out stage.
 
Robin said:
Done! I was foxed by the question about the '14 main allergies' as I didn’t know whether this just related to food allergies or general, I had to stop and Google it! I found an article about the '14main allergens' in foods, and concluded this was probably what was meant.
If you have Diabetes, the one thing you are going to do is turn the packet over and check the carb content of the food, I’d say this is the one major thing I do with packaging, but there wasn’t anywhere on the survey to stress this point. A common problem is that foods give you the 'carb per 100g' and then don’t tell you the weight of the product, (happens with prewrapped cake bars). Or they give you the ingredients list per weight of produce 'as prepared' when you’re going to add it to a casserole or something, so you need to know how many carbs you’re adding at the cooking stage, not the serving out stage.
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Thank you so much!

I have noticed a few issues with questions like 14 where I could have been a little more detailed with the requirements and wording, and I have to say I have learned a few lessons for future survey writing!

It's funny that you mentioned 'per 100g' as I noticed this also, and it can be perceived in different ways as you have mentioned, but I decided to hold back from focusing too much on specific macros as it would have become a lot larger than it already is! but I think it highlights very interesting issues for future research possibly leading directly from this one.

Thanks again for your help.

Owen
 
Hope your research goes well Owen 🙂
 
Done! I agree with @Robin I just check the carb count. I mostly cook from scratch so rarely buy pre-packaged foods but I check on the nutrition tables on dairy, bread etc if it is packaged. Otherwise I use the supermarket nutrition information for e.g in store bakery products. If I am at home I can weigh the items but otherwise a per portion carb count would be better.
 
I could not enter my height either in feet and inches or cm, so I had to give up.
 
Done. I also cook from scratch so mainly check labels for bread and anything packaged eg rice, pasta.
The thing i find annoying is some packages give the nutritional value as uncooked and some as cooked. If its marked as uncooked then its back to checking on website/internet/carbs&cals.
 
Pattidevans said:
Done! I agree with @Robin I just check the carb count. I mostly cook from scratch so rarely buy pre-packaged foods but I check on the nutrition tables on dairy, bread etc if it is packaged. Otherwise I use the supermarket nutrition information for e.g in store bakery products. If I am at home I can weigh the items but otherwise a per portion carb count would be better.
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It is brilliant to hear you are cooking from scratch as much as possible, this is why nutrition labels were not as essential before packaged products took over the world!
 
freesia said:
Done. I also cook from scratch so mainly check labels for bread and anything packaged eg rice, pasta.
The thing i find annoying is some packages give the nutritional value as uncooked and some as cooked. If its marked as uncooked then its back to checking on website/internet/carbs&cals.
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Yes this is certainly an issue when looking at micronutrients as the value can deteriorate through the cooking processes!
 
ohresearcher1 said:
Apologies I am unsure what the issue was exactly, can I help you with the input options? Thanks, Owen.
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I tried Aft Bins, I tried feet as a decimal A.C with and without ft, I converted to cm xxx I tried 'xxx' - it would not accept any option I could think of.
 
ohresearcher1 said:
Yes this is certainly an issue when looking at micronutrients as the value can deteriorate through the cooking processes!
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For me, the problem is not with deteriorated micronutrients.
For me, the problem when managing diabetes is that the total weight can change through the cooking process.
For example, if you take 100g raw rice and boil it, you are left with more than 100g of cooked rice. Typically, the carb value of rice is given for cooked rice but when preparing meals from scratch with it, I weigh it when raw not cooked.
Given I need to calculate my insulin dose on the amount of carbs I am eating and I need to do that 15 minutes before I start eating, I want to know at the start of the cooking process not at the end.
 
Done.

A couple of points.

1. Obvious one. Food packaging labelling fonts are way too small. Hard to read. Sometimes actually impossible to read. Pointless it being there. Ok I know they have to shove all that stuff on by law. Hence the idea of using bar codes or QR codes is a good one. The aspect of actually being able to read the packaging was not covered. But surely this is a major aspect?

2. Q27. How often do the claims "eg sugar free" aftect your choice is a bit ambiguous. You could mean affecting to absolutely buy or to absolutely avoid. For me it is absolutely avoid cos they usually add something much nastier in there instead.

Overall I thought it was a well written survey.
 
helli said:
For me, the problem is not with deteriorated micronutrients.
For me, the problem when managing diabetes is that the total weight can change through the cooking process.
For example, if you take 100g raw rice and boil it, you are left with more than 100g of cooked rice. Typically, the carb value of rice is given for cooked rice but when preparing meals from scratch with it, I weigh it when raw not cooked.
Given I need to calculate my insulin dose on the amount of carbs I am eating and I need to do that 15 minutes before I start eating, I want to know at the start of the cooking process not at the end.
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I definitely agree with this!
 
ohresearcher1 said:
It is brilliant to hear you are cooking from scratch as much as possible, this is why nutrition labels were not as essential before packaged products took over the world!
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Yes, but I am old enough to remember that - the world before supermarkets. I've always cooked from scratch.
 
helli said:
For me, the problem is not with deteriorated micronutrients.
For me, the problem when managing diabetes is that the total weight can change through the cooking process.
For example, if you take 100g raw rice and boil it, you are left with more than 100g of cooked rice. Typically, the carb value of rice is given for cooked rice but when preparing meals from scratch with it, I weigh it when raw not cooked.
Given I need to calculate my insulin dose on the amount of carbs I am eating and I need to do that 15 minutes before I start eating, I want to know at the start of the cooking process not at the end.
Click to expand...

Ah yes this is a difficult one, as some products are more difficult to define once manipulated, but you should be fine with dry goods like rice I would think, I rarely see 'as prepared' for nutritional content but you may be on the look out for this more than me! If anything products like rice may reduce slightly from cooking due to loss of starches. Would you say a before and after cooking nutritional content table would be helpful? Owen
 
Gwynn said:
Done.

A couple of points.

1. Obvious one. Food packaging labelling fonts are way too small. Hard to read. Sometimes actually impossible to read. Pointless it being there. Ok I know they have to shove all that stuff on by law. Hence the idea of using bar codes or QR codes is a good one. The aspect of actually being able to read the packaging was not covered. But surely this is a major aspect?

2. Q27. How often do the claims "eg sugar free" aftect your choice is a bit ambiguous. You could mean affecting to absolutely buy or to absolutely avoid. For me it is absolutely avoid cos they usually add something much nastier in there instead.

Overall I thought it was a well written survey.
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Thank you for participating! The font size is definitely an issue, and the limit for sizing is really small, I think it is 1.2mm minimum! Access to a larger print would be a great help, it is so much easier to read the nutrition tables via online supermarkets as they are nice and big! Also thank you for the feedback, Q27 could certainly be adjusted, it is one of a couple I wish I had worded slightly differently... thanks again for completion!
 
Pattidevans said:
Yes, but I am old enough to remember that - the world before supermarkets. I've always cooked from scratch.
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I worry about the generation born between the rise of processed foods and the now rise again in cooking from scratch. Their cooking ability will surely be affected, and with the lack of food sciences in schools... nutrition is an absolute mind feild! It has taken me a master's to catch up as I gained 0 proper nutritional education in high school.
 
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