It's fat content that matters, claims study
shoppers when it comes to understanding nutrition labels on the
foods they buy, but it's fat content and calories, not additives
and preservatives, that concern them, according to a new report.
"While Europeans and Asians registered a high concern in checking for preservatives and additives, consumers in North America and Latin America topped the list for most regularly checking out fat, calorie and sugar levels in packaged foods," said Frank Martell, chief executive officer, ACNielsen Europe.
The ACNielsen online study, which polled consumers in 38 markets, found that while Americans ranked themselves first in their understanding of nutritional information, they don't often check all the ingredients.
"Food labels represent an important opportunity for consumer packaged goods manufacturers to differentiate their products and build consumer trust, but the opportunities are lost if labels aren't being read," said Alice Fawver, senior vice president, retail measurement services, ACNielsen US Marketing.
"This survey shows a lot of upside potential for getting consumers involved in using product labels."
Indeed, American consumers are becoming a lot more label-conscious than they once were. There is growing awareness for example of the danger of trans fats, and as of January 1 of course, trans fat label will be obligatory.
Perhaps due to the current coverage of the obesity crisis, fat content is the item regularly checked by the highest number of consumers globally (49 percent) as well as in the North American (57 percent) and European (49 percent) regions. In Latin America, caloric content is checked regularly by the largest number of shoppers (59 percent), and preservatives topped the list in the Asia-Pacific region (47 percent).
Respondents were also asked whether they know the difference between saturated and unsaturated fat. In the US 58 percent of respondents said they do. Across all markets, responses ranged from a low of 27 percent in Japan to a high of 82 percent in Norway.
Among other findings, 65 percent of US respondents said they "mostly" understand nutritional information labels on the food products they buy - the highest level among the 38 markets surveyed. In Italy, just 6 percent of respondents indicated such an understanding.
In contrast, of the least regularly-checked items among US consumers, half or more said they "never" check for the inclusion of food coloring, gluten levels, or the glycemic index.
Phil Lempert, a food trends analyst and ACNielsen consultant, said some of the findings can be attributed to what information is currently available on product labels. "Relatively few people check the glycemic index because very few companies are including the information on the labels of products sold in the US," he said.
"But that will soon change. The glycemic index is set to become the next big thing in the food industry because it takes carbohydrates to the next level - from the amount of carbs a product contains to the impact that the carb level will have on a person's weight and energy."
According to the survey, just 35 percent of US respondents have heard of the glycemic index, a number that indicates how much a food item will impact a person's blood sugar.
Globally, consumers in most markets said they are most likely to do so when buying a product for the first time. Across all 38 markets, just 21 percent of consumers said they "always" read the labels.
To see an overview of the survey visit acnielsen.com
