Status of nutrition and health claims in dairy products and accuracy requirements in the Tehran market

Signs and marks in packaging have an important role in the marketing and identification of the products. The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of the inclusion of this information and its compliance with the criteria established by the Food and Drug Administration to identify errors and frauds. In this descriptive-analytical study, 272 samples of dairy products were selected, and their labels were photographed, then the information was investigated with documents in Food and Drug Administration and the general guidelines of food and beverages. Finally, data were analyzed with SPSS software and chi-square tests. Based on the results of this study, it was found that in general, 4%, 7%, 1.1%, 11%, 8.4%, 25%, and 18% of the products presented in Tehran were respectively. The defects did not have the weight net, license number, production date and expiration of the product and the ingredients (same percentage), batch number, storage conditions, instructions for preparation, and the requirements and health recommendations. In nutritional claims, most claims were related to fat, salt, and fiber and 7.7% of the products contained health claims. 45.2% of the samples have descriptive statements, that 18.15% were unauthorized. 14% of the samples lack traffic lights nutrition and 39% did not have a nutrition facts table. Also, 9.9% of the samples were illegible and were not read clearly. Food labels are a tool for measuring the health of products and will have a significant role in reducing NCD. This study reveals the more rigorous monitoring of food labels.