Uluslararası Tarım Araştırmalarında Yenilikçi Yaklaşımlar Dergisi International Journal of Innovative Approaches in Agricultural Research 2021, Vol. 5 (4), 405-423 https://doi.org/10.29329/ijiaar.2021.415.6 Copyright © 2021. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND 405 Original article Consumer Behaviour toward Food Labels and its Implication on Food Waste during COVID-19 Crisis in Tunisia Sarra Jribi a, * , Hanen Ben Ismail, a,b , Derine Dogui c & Hajer Debbabi a a University of Carthage, National Institute of Agronomy of Tunisia (INAT), Department of Agri-Food Industries, UR17AGR01, Tunis, Tunisia b University Tunis El Manar, Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences of Tunis, LR11E S09, Tunis, Tunisia c National Institute of Consumption (INC), Tunis, Tunisia Abstract The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak affected the whole world at different scales: politically, economically, and socially, including compromising food security. All over the world people experienced significant changes contributing to different reactions and attitudes: fear, anxiety, depression... Therefore, this pandemic has altered their behaviour. This research aimed to evaluate to which extent crisis situation, like COVID-19 pandemic, would affect consumers interest to food labels, and the consequences on food waste. An online survey of 295 Tunisian consumers was conducted three months after COVID-19 lockdown. The survey collected information on demographic data, extent of household food waste, use and knowledge of food labelling information and food waste assessment. The pandemic situation enhanced consumers’ interests to labels, as 61% of respondents stated to pay great attention to labels and to always check them. Elderly and university educated respondents are the most sensitive people to labels, in a COVID-19 context. Regarding understanding food labels, particularly date labels, Tunisian consumers still have some ambiguity as 33% could not provide correct answers about date labels definitions, which may lead to food spoilage and misuse. Interestingly, most of respondents declared to waste a low amount of food on post Covid-19 period. Their judgment in discarding a food product was based mostly on food storage considerations than on the use of date labels. These findings indicate the need of more effective communication about food labels, particularly date labels, in order to contribute in reducing household food waste, and potentially improving food security. Keywords: Covid-19, Consumer behaviour , Food waste, Food label, Survey Received: 28 August 2021 * Accepted: 05 December 2021 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.29329/ijiaar.2021.415.6 * Corresponding author: Eng., M.Sc., Ph.D. in food sciences ,Sarra Jribi is Assistant Professor at the National Institute of Agronomy of Tunisia, Department of Agri-Food Industries . Her research interestsinclude the Food science, Food processing, Sustainable transformation. Sarra Jribi is also a memeber in”Food and Health” team at the National Institute of Agronomy . Email: sarra.jribi@gmail.com