Search

Purple Sweet Potato (PSP) in Malaysia is an abandoned crop. Even though it has various health benefits and nutritional values, consumers, especially Malaysians, still lack purple sweet potato consumption. It has a high dietary fibre content, a low glycemic index, and contains proteins, minerals, polyphenols, and anthocyanin. The National Health Morbidity Survey (Malaysia) in 2019 reported that 94% of Malaysian adults lack fiber consumption in their dietary patterns. As a result, it may become an alternative crop for individuals who consume less nutrients and fibre as a result of dietary choices and health issues. This one-of-a-kind crop also contains anti-oxidative, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, anti-diabetic, anti-microbial, anti-obesity, and anti-aging qualities. Due to the lack of a commercial food product based on this crop, it has become an unpopular crop among Malaysians. Purple sweet potato makes only a few Malaysian sweets and traditional snacks. Nonetheless, Malaysian customers continue to ignore it. Thus, Purple Sweet Potato Cracker was made, and a proximate analysis was conducted to examine its physicochemical content. It was found that the newly developed PSP crackers were high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals, as well as in calcium (1332.08 mg/kg) and contained anthocyanins of 6.68 mg/L. Besides that, this special cracker is free from food preservatives without coloring agents and additives. The processing of Purple Sweet Potato Cracker carries important features for small-medium entrepreneurs, which will contribute to the Malaysian economy perspectives, as it has a good potential to be marketed in domestic and international commercial food outlets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malaysia is the second largest producer of edible bird’s nest (EBN) in the world, but it has encountered problems when its main export market, China, imposed a ban on EBN products originating from the country. Edible bird’s nest products are products made of the hardened saliva secretions of swiftlet birds. Purchasing intention of edible bird’s nest products is a vital variable in determining customers’ purchasing behavior for these products. This research explores how attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control can influence the buyer’s intention toward purchasing edible bird’s nest products. A total of 1,361 respondents were interviewed using a structured questionnaire from July to November 2012. Descriptive analysis, factor analysis, and multiple regression were used to analyze the data. Multiple regression analysis shows that attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control are statistically significant predictors of consumer intention toward purchasing edible bird’s nest products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers are becoming selective in food purchasing due to concerns over food safety. Cleanliness, safety, and nutrition are among the desirable food characteristics sorted out by consumers. The Food Safety Certificate (FSC) has been found to be detrimental to the increase in the level of consumer confidence on the safety of food products available in markets. This study investigates consumers’ attitude toward FSC while purchasing food products in Malaysia. The data collected from 350 respondents through a face-to-face survey were analyzed using descriptive and factor analysis methods. The results of the study indicated that the majority of consumers are aware of the FSC function and existence in food products. Factor analysis identified brand, trust, health consciousness, and environmental consciousness as factors associated by consumers with FSC. The results indicate that FSC not only ensures consumer trust on food safety but also helps producers in operation streamlining and quality management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rising rate of foodborne diseases has caused not just consumers but also food producers to become increasingly concerned about food safety. As a result, the government of Malaysia, together with relevant bodies, have introduced quality-assurance agencies to certify food products that are produced, processed, and handled with methods that are acknowledged by the certification agencies as clean and safe for consumption. This study aims to identify the factors influencing consumer purchasing behavior toward quality-labeled vegetables. A survey was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire and distributed randomly to consumers in public places in the Klang Valley. Four hundred and sixteen respondents were approached. The results indicate that most of the respondents are aware of food quality labels. Using factor analysis, four latent factors that influence consumer attitude toward quality-labeled vegetables were identified, and the importance of quality attributes (sensory, health, safety, and social attributes) in shaping those attitudes was also shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dichotomous-choice Logit model is applied on data from the Malaysian Household Expenditure Survey (1998/99) to examine household purchase decisions of food-away-from-home (FAFH). Results indicate that younger, higher educated, wealthier, smaller-sized families, urban residents, or Malay and Chinese households have a significantly higher likelihood to purchase FAFH, ceteris paribus. In addition, gender does not impact FAFH purchase decisions in a statistically significant manner. Based on these findings, several observations are noted to provide policymakers and food industry analysts with a better understanding of the habits and attitudes of Malaysian households vis-à-vis FAFH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]