Food labels provide more than just nutritional information – they’re a “window” into the entire food system, according to PhD candidate Emma Tonkin from Flinders University.

As part of her PhD, Ms Tonkin is researching the ways in which food labelling gives consumers insight into the production of food and, importantly, influences their trust in the food system – from the companies that manufacture foods to the governments that regulate them.

“Back in agrarian civilisations people grew their own produce and slaughtered their own meat so they knew exactly where their food came from and what was in it but now we have limited knowledge – we’ve become really disconnected with food,” Ms Tonkin said.

“The way we deal with that is by trusting in the people who make our food and the governments that regulate it,” she said.  “But because we don’t have any direct communication with these producers, we rely on the labelling on our food for information so it becomes a window into how the food system works.”

See more at: http://blogs.flinders.edu.au/flinders-news/2013/10/12/food-labels-influence-trust-in-food-system/#sthash.i9iRn9JA.dpuf

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