Prepared by: Reem Ibrahim Asiri Fawzia Mohammad Asiri Abdiah Ali Al-jnadi

Consumers‘ awareness about the side effects of preservatives used in packaged food

Introduction Packaged foods are considered like poison in our hands and we don't care how harmful they could be because they are cheap and easy to prepare or eat directly. Adding to that, the commercials about them and how they project it to us in a pleasant way to trick us into buying them.

Use of preservatives in packaged food A preservative is defined as a substance or a chemical that is added to products such as food, beverages, pharmaceutical drugs, paints, biological samples, cosmetics, wood, and many other products to prevent decomposition by microbial growth or by undesirable chemical changes. In general, preservation is implemented in two modes, chemical and physical. Chemical preservation entails adding chemical compounds to the product. Physical preservation entails processes such as refrigeration or drying. "Foods, 3. Food Additives" in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 2002, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim

The consumer should be aware of the side effects of using preservatives in packaged food. Some preservatives are not harmful, but some in lethal doses may cause illness to the consumer. Also the fat, salt and other preservative content of packaged foods will be increased and hidden. Hence the consumer may not be aware of it. .

Also food labelling should contain all details regarding the composition of the packaged foods in order to enable the consumer to select nutrient dense foods without added preservatives or incorporating minimal amounts of safe preservatives into the packaged food

Significance of the study

With the wide range of many packaged food products nowadays and the increasing number of companies that produce them, it increased the standards for the long-term preservation which in return increases the number of consumers purchasing them as well as increasing the side effects such as diarrhea and malignant diseases like cancers. Therefore there is a lack of knowledge among consumers’ awareness of preservatives that may be causing them some health problems. For this purpose we chose to do our study in Abha region to study the awareness and knowledge among consumers about preservatives added to packaged foods and their side effects on the human body.

Aim of the study

1- To determine the consumer‘s knowledge regarding packaged foods. 2- To determine the consumers awareness about the side effects of packaged foods.

Research Questions:

1-What is the consumers' beliefs about food preservatives? 2-Do the consumers‘ have a background knowledge on the harmful effects of packaged foods?

Research Methodology:

- Design: A cross-sectional study will be conducted among a sample of consumers in Abha region to assess their knowledge, attitudes and practice on packaged foods. - Sample: A sample of 200 consumers will be taken to assess their knowledge and attitudes towards packaged foods. - Period: It will be studied from february till september 2017 for the period of 8 months . - Tools: The questionnaire sheet consists of 3 main sections. Section I: Socio-demographic characteristics (as follows: age, residence, civil status ......). Section 2: A questionnaire to assess the knowledge of consumers about preservatives used in packaged foods and its effect on human body . Section 3: Attitudes towards use of packaged foods.

Will be coded and tabulated accordingly. -Discussion- -Result- Will be coded and tabulated accordingly. -Discussion- In the light of available local and international studies, discussion of the obtained results will be done. -Conclusion- It will be derived from the results of the study. -Recommendations- It will be derived from the discussion of the study. -Summary- A brief description of the study will be provided

References (1) Erich Lück and Gert-Wolfhard von Rymon Lipinski "Foods, 3. Food Additives" in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 2002, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim. doi: 10.1002/14356007.a11_561 (2) Fao.org. (2017). Fruit and vegetable processing - Ch05 General procedures for fruit and vegetable preservation (cont.). [online] Available at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/v5030e/v5030e0d.htm [Accessed 11 Apr. 2017].

Thank you