Safe utilization of food packaging material and its influence factors among consumers in Guangzhou city

Objective To investigate behaviors of safe utilization of food packaging material and its influence factors among consumers in Guangzhou city.Methods A anonymous questionnaire survey was conducted among 1 300 consumers recruited in 25 supermarkets located in 5 districts of Guangzhou city.SPSS 19.0 was used in data analysis.Results For the 1 154 participants with valid information,the scores of safe utilization of food packaging material ranged between 4 and 19 on a scale of 21 as the maximum and the scores at 25%,50%,and 75% quantile were 8,10,and 12,with only 19.3% of the participants had the scores of 13 or above.The proportions of the participants with basic or adequate knowledge about using materials specific for food packaging,suitable materials for heating with microwave oven,and reasonable reuse of food packaging materials based on their characteristics were 32.6%,53.9%,and 21.6%,respectively.The scores of the participants significantly differed by gender (Z=-3.279,P=0.001),age (χ²=50.593,P<0.001),education (χ²=42.093,P<0.001),and familial income (χ²=110.864,P<0.001).There were positive correlations between the score and the concern about the safety of food packaging material (r=0.429),the knowledge level about the requirement on the characteristics of material used for food packaging (r=0.358),the knowledge level about food packaging (r=0.190),and the intension to acquire information on food packaging material (r=0.273) (P<0.001 for all).All the variables were of significance when included in the multivariate logistic regression equation (all P<0.05),except for education.Conclusion Discretionary and unsafe utilization of food packaging material are prevalent among consumers in Guangzhou city,suggesting that education on safety utilization of food packaging material in daily life needs to be strengthened in the population.