The survey reveals that while one in four consumers in Ireland always read food labels when shopping for food, 27% said they rarely or never consult them.
Food labelling was considered informative by nearly three quarters of consumers surveyed, and the main reasons these consumers read food labels is to look for nutrient information, calorie content, or to determine if the food contains specific ingredients.
Commissioned by the FSAI, the Ipsos Mori survey comprised face-to-face interviews with 1,021 consumers, countrywide. Consumers were asked to rate the importance of 10 pieces of information legally required on food labels. The date of minimum durability (ie the use-by or best-before date) was rated the most important piece of labelling information, followed by the list of ingredients and the name of the food.
87% of consumers considered the nutrition table on a label to be very or fairly important, but most would prefer to see nutrient values stated per portion (eg per bowl), than per 100g or 100ml.
More than 70% of consumers surveyed said they were very or fairly concerned about salt in food, so it’s important that food labelling is presented in a way that allows consumers to identify lower salt options. Currently, the salt content of a food is declared as ‘sodium’, but the majority of consumers said that they would prefer to see a ‘salt’ value on the label instead, though labelling both would be acceptable.
On a voluntary basis, food manufacturers often highlight nutrition information by placing signpost labelling on the front of packs, following a Traffic Light format, a Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) format, or a combination of the two.
When consumers were shown a Traffic Light label, two GDA labels and a label which combined both schemes; 53% opted for either of the two GDA labels, whereas 39% considered the traffic light label most informative. However, only 8% of consumers considered the combination label the most informative.
Commenting on the findings of the survey, Prof Alan Reilly, chief executive, FSAI states: “The survey reveals that attitudes to food labelling in Ireland have changed since our last survey in 2002. The main reasons consumers now read food labelling is to look for nutritional and calorific information, whereas in 2002 the key reason to read a label was to check the best before date. This indicates that people are concerned about healthy eating and want to know more about the nutritional aspects of the food they’re buying.
“Overall, nearly three quarters of consumers confirm that food labels are informative, which is positive. The function of food labelling is to provide consumers with key information on the properties, ingredients, nature and characteristics of pre-packaged food to enable them to make informed food purchasing decisions. This survey highlights that consumers want information on food labels to be clear, but also indicates a need to educate consumers on the different aspects of food labelling to allow them to make more informed purchasing decisions.
“The FSAI is involved in discussions with the European Commission and other member states on the development of a new regulation on the provision of information to consumers, essentially a revision of the food labelling regulations. The outcome of this survey will feed into the Irish position.”
Source: Food Safety Authority of Ireland
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024