Consumers’ Level of Awareness and Safety Perceptions of Food Additives

Aims: We aimed to measure the prevalence of Jeddah residents’ knowledge and their awareness of these ingredients.

Study Design: A cross-sectional study.

Place and Duration of Study: The study conducted in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during 2019.

Methodology: This study was cross-sectional via an electronic survey that was handed out, and 676 of 868 respondents fit the inclusion criteria: all individuals were eighteen and above in addition to residing in Jeddah in 2019. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 21. Pearson's chi-square was used to test association.

Results: The results showed that 63.5% of consumers needed more information about food additives. About 80.5% were familiar with preservatives which, in their opinion, were the most disconcerting food additives. Moreover, 37.2% desired easier and accurate labels to gain a better understanding of this topic, while 43.6% said that the most acceptable idea for disseminating information about food additives to the public was by animation in independent display areas.

Conclusion: The study’s findings are examined in terms of the implications for future research and for the development of concrete communication materials to improve food additive awareness in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The level of knowledge was low. Further studies are needed to be done in Saudi Arabia about this topic.