Recognition of Nutrition Labeling of Korean Restaurants among Adults in Gyeonggi-do Area

Abstract The aim of this study is to highlight the importance of the correct food choices and nutrition management through nutrition labeling and provide basic data for building a nutrition labeling system for Korean restaurants. In the study, a survey was conducted from February 5th to February 27th in 2010 involving adults over the age of 20 living in part of the Gyeonggi-do area. The data was used to analyze the general characteristics, the awareness of nutrition labeling and the nutrition labeling contents by using the SPSS 18.0 package program. Among the 268 people surveyed, the total number of women was greater (60.4%) than men (39.6%). The perception of the necessity of nutrition labeling was a relatively high score of 3.99 on a 1 to 5 scale and the motivation to utilize nutrition labeling scored 3.89. The study found that females perceived nutrition labeling to be more important than did the males. In addition, the perception varied according to the level of education and age. In conclusion, since customers have a high demand for nutrition labeling in Korean restaurants and are motivated to utilize labeling when eating-out is relatively strong, labeling would be a good educational tool for leading a healthy food life. Furthermore, since the study found that differences occur between nutrition labeling contents or nutrients according to general characteristics, food service companies might be able to gain benefits through differentiated nutrition labeling that is catered for their main customers.Key words: nutrition labeling, Korean restaurants, food choices, nutrition management