Food Standards Agency 2006 English Regions Survey reveals consumers are taking a healthy interest in their food and diet

Thursday 22 February 2007

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is today publishing its seventh English Regions Consumer Attitudes to Food Survey. The annual survey reveals that healthy eating is a key concern for consumers, with many people checking labels for nutritional information on a regular basis as well as an increasing awareness of 5-a-day messaging.

Key findings

The 2006 survey highlights a number of diet and health trends that have emerged since 2000, these include:

A significant increase in the number of consumers who are aware that they should eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables each day. Consumers across the regions are significantly more likely than those in London to claim to have a greater knowledge of the 5-a-day message (1)
Almost half of UK consumers claim to be trying to increase their consumption of fresh fruit and almost two fifths of UK respondents were similarly trying to increase the amount of vegetables they eat. Regionally, respondents in London and the South West were more likely to try and eat more fruit and vegetables (2)
UK wide, the amount of salt, fat and sugar present in food continues to be a key issue of concern for consumers. All regions showed a similar level of concern about fat, but the West Midlands and the South East expressed higher levels of concern about salt. Yorkshire and Humberside and those in East England had the greatest concern over the amount of sugar in food (3)
UK wide, just over half of consumers said that they usually or always looked at food labels when purchasing a product for the first time. Consumers in the North East, Yorkshire and Humberside were most likely to never look at labels when buying items for the first time (4)
The majority of regions showed that over half of consumers agreed that they would like more information about the food that they buy and almost half said they found it difficult to know if a product is healthy from the label (5).

Gill Fine, Director of Consumer Choice and Dietary Health at the Food Standards Agency says: 'It's encouraging that year-on-year this survey of over 3500 consumers shows a growing awareness about healthy eating messages regarding salt, fat and sugar and about eating at least five portions of a variety of fruit and veg a day. The number of people who say they are trying to eat more fruit and vegetables and checking their food labels for nutrition information, shows a marked increase since the Agency first began these surveys in 2000. It's also great news that awareness and trust in the Agency amongst consumers is high and has continued to grow, during the year and is now higher than ever before.'

Along with tracking awareness of key food issues, the 2006 Consumer Attitudes survey also highlighted a rising consumer awareness of the FSA and its role in providing clear consumer advice. Figures of note include:

Consumer awareness of the FSA now stands at a new high after increasing steadily since 2000. Across the regions, awareness of the FSA was highest in the East Midlands and lowest in the London and South East (6)
There has been a substantial increase from 2001, in the number of consumers who believe the FSA is an organisation that they can trust (7)
There has been a substantial increase from 2000, in the number of consumers who described themselves as confident about the Agency's role in protecting health with regard to food safety. Those in the East Midlands expressed the highest level of confidence compared to other regions (8)
UK-wide, a third of consumers cited the FSA as an organisation that they would use for information on food safety and food scares. A quarter of UK consumers cited the Agency as a source of healthy eating advice. Fewer people in the North East mentioned the FSA as a source of information on food safety than in most other regions. (9)
A substantial increase in the number of consumers who believe that the FSA provides clear information and advice with very little regional variation. The North East showed the highest rating. (10)

Notes

(1) UK wide - up from 43% in 2000 to 71% in 2006. Regionally - England average is 72% and London 52%.

(2) UK wide 38% for vegetables and 45% for fruit. Regionally, South West, fruit 54%, vegetables 46% and London, fruit 60% and vegetables 55%.

(3) UK wide and regionally the amount of fat, salt and sugar continued to be a key issue of concern for consumers when prompted with a list of possible concerns. Salt was mentioned by over half of the UK sample (54%) and fat and sugar each by more than two fifths of respondents (fat 46% and sugar 43%). The West Midlands and the South East (both 60%) expressed higher levels of concern about salt. Yorkshire and Humberside (49%) and those in East England (51%), expressed a greater concern over the amount of sugar in food.

(4) UK wide, 52% of consumers said they always or usually looked at labels when buying products for the first time. Regional figures: North East (27%), Yorkshire and Humberside (26%) said they never looked at labels when buying products for the first time.

(5) UK wide 60% of respondents agreed with the statement: �I would like to have more information on the food that I buy). 45% of respondents agree with the statement: �I find it difficult to know if a food product is healthy from the label�.

(6) UK wide, consumer awareness of the FSA increased from 58% in 2000 to 82% in 2006. Regionally consumer awareness was:

East Midlands (94%)
West Midlands (86%)
South-East (81%)
London (65%)

(7) UK wide consumer trust in the FSA increased from 44% in 2001 to 58% in 2005 to 61% in 2006. (asked on a 7 point scale where answers 5,6 and 7 are counted as a positive rating)

(8) UK wide consumer confidence increased from 50% in 2000 to 65% in 2006. The highest figure was in the East Midlands, with 73% of respondents saying they were very/fairly confident.

(9) UK Wide, spontaneous and prompted usage of FSA: food safety and scares 34%, and healthy eating 26%. Regionally, North East for food safety and scares 22%.

(10) UK wide consumer belief that the FSA provides clear information and advice has increased from 42% in 2004 to 52% in 2006. Regionally, the North East showed the highest rating (56%)

Details of the survey

For a full breakdown of regional statistics download the report from the link below.

The Consumer Attitudes Survey is conducted annually by the Food Standards Agency to provide a better understanding of attitudes, knowledge, behaviour, and awareness among the public with regards to food standards and safety. The first study, in 2000 (published January 2001) enabled benchmarks to be set, and each additional study thereafter allows the Agency to track changes in behaviour and attitude, and measure trends.

TNS conducted 3,513 interviews among a demographically representative sample of the UK adult population. Interviews were conducted face-to-face with respondents using CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing) technology between August and October 2006.

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Food Standards Agency 2006 English Regions Survey reveals consumers are taking a healthy interest in their food and diet

Key findings

Notes

Details of the survey

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