Brazilian consumers' understanding and recognition ability on organic processed food

Summary

Do consumers know what organic processed food is and are they able to correctly identify it? This article aimed to address these questions in Brazil. We used the snowball methodology to disseminate the questionnaire (1,690 answers) containing 21 questions regarding: 1. frequency of consumption, 2. self-assessment of knowledge regarding organic processed food, 3. ability to identify the organic label, 4. knowledge regarding the organic processed food identity standards, 5. socioeconomic profile. Participants' self-assessed knowledge showed positive associations with both the knowledge regarding identity standards and the ability to identify organic labels. Younger, more educated participants who were responsible for domestic purchases were more likely to correctly identify organic processed food. No compelling evidence was found that frequency of organic processed food consumption affected the performance on the questionnaire. We also found evidence that regions of residence affect the level of knowledge and ability to identify organic processed food.