This research has been conducted to discover the differences between the high school students of food-related majors and non-food-related majors, in terms of the preferences to the confectionaries and the understandings and use of the ingredient indic...
This research has been conducted to discover the differences between the high school students of food-related majors and non-food-related majors, in terms of the preferences to the confectionaries and the understandings and use of the ingredient indications and additives.
The most interviewees answered they eat confectionaries 1 to 3 times a week, then 4 to 5 times, and the least answered once a day. As for the gender, more male students answered they eat confectionaries once a day than female students. Also, non-food-related majors tend to have more confectionaries than food-related majors.
As for the types of the confectionaries, more than half of the student answered they enjoy the snacks most, and then the ice creamcame next, followed by chewing gum, and, lastly, candies. In terms of the gender, the female students took the snacks more frequently then the male, while the male students had more chewing gums. Most of the interviewees answered they consider the taste of the product most importantly when they choose the confectionaries, and the students from the families with higher income showed higher tendencies of preferring the taste over other factors.
Most of the students showed very poor understandings below normal level on the ingredient indication system. But the students of food-related major relatively had better knowledgeon the nutrition of the food compared to the non-majors.
For the question whether the ingredient indication is necessary or not, most of the students answered very strongly in support for it. Especially, the female students and the food-related majors felt the necessity of the indication system more serious. In most, the female students and the food-related majors had better recognitions of the ingredient indication system than the males and the non-majors respectively.
Some of the students had experiences with any educations on the ingredient indication system. Students from the families with higher income had more educational experiences as well.
More than half of the students said they check the ingredient indication when purchasing the confectionaries, especially so with the students of food-related major.
Most of the students gave the reasons of checking the indications as to check whether the food had any kind of harmful additives, followed by other reasons such as to know about the nutrition of the food, to keep healthy, and to make comparison with other companies’ products. For the reasons not checking the indications, most answered that it is
because they simply make habitual purchases without any considerations.
Concerning the additives, majority of the students wanted to know about the safety of the food additives most and commonly agreed about the necessity to know whether those additives are safe or not. The students chose the bleach as the most concerning item. Many knew about more than 7 out of the 16 additives presented in the survey forms. And, even though the male students seemed to have more knowledge over the female, there was not any meaningful difference found. In terms of the majors, students in food-related major appeared to have relatively better understandings compared to non-majors.