More than one in four people rarely or never consult the labels on food products, but some 70 per cent are very concerned about salt content in food, according to a new survey.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) published a nationwide survey that it said provides an insight into consumers’ understanding and views of food labelling on the Irish market.
The survey was carried out by Ipsos MORI for the FSAI and comprised interviews with 1,021 consumers throughout the country.
It reveals that while one in four consumers in Ireland always read food labels when shopping for food, 27 per cent said they “rarely or never” consult them.
Food labelling was considered informative by nearly three quarters of consumers surveyed. 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.
Consumers were asked to rate the importance of 10 pieces of information legally required on food labels.
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. Some 75 per cent would like to see a use-by or best-before date on foods sold loose
Some 87 per cent 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 than per 100g or 100ml. Over 70 per cent of those surveyed said they were very or fairly concerned about salt in food.
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, although labelling both would be acceptable.
At least two thirds of consumers said they would be inclined to buy food products labelled with the nutrition claims ‘low salt’, ‘low sugars’, ‘one of five a day’, ‘high fibre’, or ‘fat free’.
Over 80 per cent of consumers want health advice on the consumption of alcohol labelled on alcohol products.
The FSAI said country of origin labelling was important to consumers in Ireland. Nearly three quarters of those surveyed believe country of origin should be indicated on all foods – both pre-packaged foods and foods sold loose.
Consumers also indicated they found some elements of labels confusing, such as the use of non-standardised measurements for nutritional information and the use of scientific terms for ingredients or nutrients.
Over half agreed that making the information easier to understand and using larger text size would make it easier to choose food products
FSAI chief executive Prof Alan Reilly said the survey revealed that attitudes to food labelling in Ireland have changed since the last such 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." he said. "This indicates that people are concerned about healthy eating and want to know more about the nutritional aspects of the food they are buying.”
“Overall, nearly three quarters of consumers confirm that food labels are informative, which is positive," Prof Reilly added.
"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.”
Prof Reilly said the FSAI was 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.”