Consumption Purposes, Purchasing Preference, Trust Toward Food Supplements and Consumers' Opinions About Legal Regulations: Case of Van Province

Abstract

Supplementary foods are products which taken orally, containing one or more food components, preparing in different forms and used for nutritional support. In this study, consumption purposes, purchasing preference, trust towards food supplements and consumers' opinions about legal regulations have been observed in Van Province. 56.8% of the participants knew the supplementary foods. Most of the consumers used supplementary foods for decreasing weakness and improving their immune system. The sense of trust towards the food supplements was low (17.8%) and majority of participants (93.3%) who knew the supplementary foods had no information about legal regulations. However, women and participants who had already used supplementary foods showed positive perceptions regarding the use of these products. The data obtained in Van province showed that the confidence-building activities for food supplements will cause a rise in supplementary food consumption and contribute to the human health protection. © 2020, Centenary University. All rights reserved.