As the Food Standards Agency (FSA) announced plans for a survey into consumer attitudes towards foods, it has emerged that better nutrition labelling is not translating into healthier purchasing choices.
The FSA is seeking tenders from organisations to conduct the survey, managed by its Social Science Research Unit. The research will monitor changes in attitudes and behaviour regarding subjects such as eating and cooking habits, awareness of food safety and knowledge of nutrition.
However, Professor Klaus Grunert from the Aarhus School of Business at the University of Aarhus in Denmark told a recent labelling meeting organised by the Food and Drink Federation in Brussels: "We know many consumers like front of pack consumer signposting. But it does not mean they will use them."
He added: "Most consumers do not use information [on labels] when in a shop." He claimed that more consumers in the UK than elsewhere in Europe did so, but this only amounted to 27% of shoppers. "It is a question of motivation - not a question that can be dealt with by labelling alone," he concluded.
The difficulty of effecting changes in consumer buying and eating behaviour was further highlighted by farming minister Jane Kennedy. Giving a keynote address at last month's IFE food and drink exhibition at London's ExCel, Kennedy remarked that: "Healthy eating messages need to be clearer and simpler."
Replying to a question about proposals for a 'fat tax' on food, she said: "There are so many conflicting messages about what is and isn't healthy; the message is confused."
She added that healthy eating campaigns needed to be "predicated on an understanding of what people actually do". She said the answer was not to reformulate products but to eat fatty foods "in small amounts as part of a balanced diet"
"People want to eat healthily," she said. "But if the message is too complicated they stop listening."
Kennedy said government policies also needed to ensure that it was easier for people to make healthier choices and called for the food industry's support.