A Deep Dive into Food Label Literacy and Nutritional Awareness among Future Medical and Pharmaceutical Professionals: A cross-sectional study

Background Food labeling is a necessary tool that helps people in monitoring their dietary consumption and making healthy decisions, which eventually aids in preventing and managing non-communicable diseases. Food illiteracy is a huge global problem that causes poor health outcomes and even death. The objective of this study is to assess the awareness, knowledge, and readability of food labels, as well as the factors influencing these aspects among future healthcare professionals. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted utilizing a convenience sample of 200 students at the University of Baghdad, including 100 students from the College of Pharmacy and 100 students from the College of Medicine. The study was conducted between December 2024 and March 2025. All participants were asked to fill in a newly developed and validated questionnaire. The questionnaire was developed based on a thorough literature review, comprising sections on demographics, nutritional awareness, and knowledge related to food labels. The questionnaire's content validity was confirmed by expert review, and its reliability was established through test-retest assessments, showing high correlation coefficients (0.931 for nutritional awareness and 0.688 for nutritional knowledge). Results The mean age of study participants was 22.36 ± 1.83 years. They were predominantly females (71.5%) and all residing in urban areas. Participants mainly focused on taste, expiration date, and product weight when making food purchasing decisions, with less emphasis on organic nature or manufacturing country. Most (> 50%) highlighted reading sugar, protein, and caloric content on labels, but barriers such as small font and unclear language hindered proper reading. Overall, nutritional knowledge (13%) and awareness (13.5%) were poor, though pharmacy students demonstrated significantly better understanding than medical students. Conclusion Future healthcare students in Iraq show poor knowledge and awareness of food labels, with limited readability due to unclear labeling and time constraints, highlighting the urgent need for improved nutrition education. Trial registration: This study was registered from the ethical committee at the College of Pharmacy/University of Baghdad (RECAUBCP2210202406R) on October 22, 2024.