Knowledge of nursing and nutrition graduate students on the consumption of food colorings and their adverse health effects

Abstract

Objective: evaluating the knowledge among Nutrition and Nursing graduate students of a public university regarding the dietary practices in relation to the consumption of food colorings and their health risks. Methods: this is a quantitative and qualitative cross-sectional study in which a semi-structured questionnaire was applied to new graduate students of the Nursing and Nutrition courses at a public university. Results: the study showed that the knowledge concerning healthy eating is not clear to graduates yet, and the excessive consumption of food colorings through goodies are still present in their daily diet. Graduates admit the existence of adverse effects caused by the dyes and industrialized products, even though the knowledge about the additives is not clear. Reading and understanding the labels was not really clarifying, mainly by inefficient information on the packages and a lack of reliability from the manufacturer. Conclusion: actions regarding clarification on these products' information are required.