Perfil dos consumidores de leite do município de São Luís – MA

Abstract

Milk is a complete and important food, especially, for population's health. In order to delineate the profile of milk consumers in the municipality of São Luís – MA, as well as to evaluate the variables that influence their consumption, determine the degree of knowledge about diseases carried by this food, lactose intolerance, allergy to milk protein, the product inspection, among others, this work is necessary, due to the lack of research related to the consumption of milk in this municipality. For this purpose, a questionnaire was applied to 300 consumers in supermarkets of 18 districts of the city, randomly chosen. The answers were analyzed descriptively and arranged in graphics for better understanding. As a result, it was found that most consumers prefer powdered milk, they take into account in particular the price of the product at the time of purchase, and that the weekly consumption of milk in the municipality is well below the recommended level. It was also found too, that the minority of the interviewees consumes raw milk, however, this milk is still marketed, and some of these consumers do not know the risks of eating this informally food. Consequently, is emphasized the need for more effective measures to inspection milk and milk products by the competent authorities.