Home » When U.S. food shoppers read labels, fat content is their greatest concern
When U.S. food shoppers read labels, fat content is their greatest concern
Wellness Foods, FoodProcessing.com
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, as the chart below indicates.
|Question: Generally, how often do you check food labeling for the content or amount of:||U.S. Respondents||Global Respondents||U.S. Rank (percentage that checks "regularly") Out of 38 Markets Surveyed|
|Fat||56%||49%||Tie for 10th|
|Calories||50%||43%||Tie for 9th|
|Protein||30%||28%||Tie for 14th|
|Fiber||28%||27%||Tie for 15th|
|Additives||25%||36%||Tie for 32nd|
|Gluten||7%||11%||Tie for 29th|
|Glycemic Index||7%||11%||Tie for 28th|
Fat content is the item regularly checked by the highest number of consumers globally (49%) as well as in the North American (57%) and European (49%) regions. In Latin America, caloric content is checked regularly by the largest number of shoppers (59%), and preservatives topped the list in the Asia-Pacific region (47%). Several market-specific findings were noteworthy as well. For example, 60% of respondents in Mexico regularly check the fat content of the foods they buy, 62% in Brazil regularly check caloric content, and over 60% of Chinese consumers regularly check the content levels of additives, preservatives, and coloring.
Of the least regularly-checked items among U.S. 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 U.S. 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% of U.S. respondents have heard of the glycemic index, a number that indicates how much a food item will impact a person's blood sugar. Across all markets, awareness ranged from a low of 11% in Japan and the Netherlands to a high of 82% in Australia. Respondents were also asked whether they know the difference between saturated and unsaturated fat. In the U.S. 58% of respondents said they do. Across all markets, responses ranged from a low of 27% in Japan to a high of 82% in Norway.
Among other findings, 65% of U.S. 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% of respondents indicated such an understanding.
When are people most likely to check nutritional labels? 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% of consumers said they "always" read the labels.
|Question: When you are buying packaged food, when would you check the nutritional information on the package?||U.S. Respondents||Global Respondents||U.S. Rank Out of 38 Markets Surveyed Worldwide|
|When I'm thinking of buying a product for the first time||45%||41%||Tie for 10th|
|When buying certain food types||26%||27%||Tie for 22nd|
|Always||23%||21%||Tie for 15th|
|When I am on a diet/trying to lose weight||23%||16%||Tie for 4th|
|When buying products for my children||12%||12%||Tie for 14th|
|When I have the time||9%||16%||35th|
|Never||6%||8%||Tie for 21st|
The survey, which took place in May, 2005 over the Internet, polled more than 21,100 respondents in 38 markets: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, UK, USA. All markets had sample sizes of approximately 500, except for China, France, Germany, UK and USA, which had sample sizes of approximately 1000. The survey has a margin for error of plus or minus 3.3% to 4.4%.
To see an overview of the survey please visit http://acnielsen.com.
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