Diet and Consumer Choices
What you must understand
Food choice is influenced by many factors: cost and income, family habits, culture and religion, health and allergies, convenience and time, advertising and peer pressure, availability, season, and personal preference. Be ready to explain each with an example.
As a consumer, know your rights and responsibilities: accurate labelling, safe food, value for money, and the duty to read labels, store food correctly and complain when necessary. Learn to read a food label: ingredients list (in descending order by weight), nutrition panel per 100 g and per portion, use-by and best-before dates, storage instructions and country of origin.
Understand how advertising works (special offers, buy-one-get-free, celebrity endorsement, health claims) and how to resist impulse buying by comparing unit prices, planning a shopping list and checking weight against price.
Traps in questions
- Confusing use-by (safety date) with best-before (quality date).
- Forgetting that ingredients are listed by weight, largest first.
- Comparing pack price instead of unit price per kilogram or per 100 g.
- Treating all advertising claims as factual.
Worked rule of thumb
To find the better buy, divide price by weight: 500 g for $3.00 = $0.60 per 100 g; 750 g for $4.20 = $0.56 per 100 g. The larger pack is better value - but only if it will be used before spoiling.