RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Food adulteration includes various forms of practices, including mixing, substituting, concealing the quality of food, etc. One of the main causes for rampant adulteration is ignorance of consumer regarding their right and responsibilities resulting in faulty buying practices. Hence, the present study was done to assess the knowledge about adulteration among consumers in an urban slum. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was done among residents of an urban slum over a period of 2 months. Adults responsible for purchasing groceries for the household were included. A sample size of 100 was taken and pilot-tested questionnaire was administered. All of them were made aware about adulteration. RESULTS: The mean age of the study subjects was 40.2 ± 11.7 years. Only 7% of the study subjects were illiterate. Good practices like checking of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) logo (90%), Agmark logo (76%) and nutrition label (65%) are lacking among the majority. The most prominent source of knowledge about adulteration is mass media especially television (65%). Almost 40% of the study subjects are unaware about the consumer empowering initiative 'Jago Grahak Jago'. Factors which had a strong positive relationship with good practices like checking of nutrition label, FSSAI logo, Agmark logo, seal and expiry date are age, education status and socio-economic status (p value ≤ 0.05). CONCLUSION: Majority of study subjects are unaware about adulteration. 'Jago Grahak Jago' initiative which empowers the consumers has to be instilled in the minds of consumers. Awareness and motivation will lead to empowerment and end the menace of food adulteration.
