Nearly two-thirds of British families have reduced their sugar consumption over the last 12 months amid rising concern for the sugar content of food and drink products.
That’s according to insight and innovation agency Humanise, which has released the findings of a study into the UK’s attitudes towards sugar.
Humanise surveyed 1,400 parents and found that three-quarters of families actively look for the sugar content on packaging, with half now taking notice of the number of sweeteners in a product.
Two-thirds of parents are suspicious about the sweetener content of foods with ‘no added sugar’ positioning, and, surprisingly, almost half (46%) said they would prefer food and drink was sweetened with sugar rather than sweeteners.
Christina Page, insight director for Humanise, said: “Over the last 12 months, the awareness of sugar content in products families buy has increased to 76%, as more families are taking action on what they consume. The research shows that replacing sugar with sweeteners isn’t first choice for families, they are veering towards preferring natural sugars and this will only increase going forward.”
Humanise concluded that consumers ‘think that natural sugar is better than sweeteners’.
It recommended that brands be honest and transparent about the levels of sugar in food and drink, while emphasising the benefits of a product rather than highlighting what ingredients have been taken away. Keeping labelling clear and concise will further help to appeal to consumers with children, it said, while showing an ‘age appropriate’ sugar limit for children would be generally helpful, Humanise said.
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