THE HON TRISH WORTH MP

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for
Health and Ageing

TW 37/2003                                                                                                                

Friday 5 September 2003

RESEARCH CONFIRMS CONSUMERS ARE USING FOOD LABELS TO MAKE HEALTHY CHOICES

Consumers are reading and using information on food labels to make informed food choices according to the recently released Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) survey ‘Food Labelling Issues   - Quantitative Research with Consumers’.

Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Trish Worth, said the survey confirmed that consumers use labels for many reasons and in different ways and some use many more label elements than others.

“Key results showed that the most widely used label elements were the use by/best before dates, ingredients list and Nutrition Information Panel, with over two thirds or more consumers reporting using this information,” Ms Worth said.

“Endorsements, such as the Heart Foundation’s ‘Pick the tick’, and use by/best before dates were rated by consumers as the most clear and easy to understand. They were also rated as the most trustworthy.

“The least used labelling element were the health claims, allergen declarations, genetically modified food declaration, and novel or irradiated food declarations.

Ms Worth said the research also indicated that consumers need further information to help them understand the basics of healthy eating.

“FSANZ has undertaken to work with industry, health professionals and educators to ensure that this information is available,” Ms Worth said.

The survey was conducted just before the new Food Standards Code came into full force in December 2002.

Close to 2,000 people were interviewed in metropolitan cities in Australia and New Zealand.   Fifteen label elements were examined in the survey covering such things as date marking, the ingredients list, the nutrition information panel, country of origin, nutrient claims, preparation / storage instructions, percentage label, warning and advisory statements, allergen declaration, endorsements, GMO, novel food and irradiated food declarations and health claims.

Results of the survey are available on the FSANZ’s website: www.foodstandards.gov.au and a limited number of hard copies from the Information Officer by sending an e-mail to info@foodstandards.gov.au

Media contacts:         Mark Williams, Ms Worth’s Office, 0401 147 558
                                  Vicki Pow, FSANZ, 02 6271 2621 or   0412 530 494

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Why did Food Standards Australia New Zealand carry out the survey?

One of the reasons the new Food Standards Code was developed was to ensure that consumers could easily interpret food labels to help them make informed choices about the foods they purchase.

This quantitative survey was based on the previous qualitative focus group research we completed and published on our website in March 2002. The focus group research assessed the awareness, knowledge and behaviour of consumers in relation to food labelling issues. This quantitative survey will be used as a benchmark to measure any potential changes in consumers use or understanding of food labels that may occur over the next few years.

How was the research conducted?

• The research was conducted between September and October 2002 in during transition period between to old and the new code to provide a baseline indicator of:

–   consumer attitudes toward labelling;

–    awareness and use of different labelling elements;

–    beliefs about the clarity and trustworthiness of labels; and

–    which label elements the consumer found difficult to interpret.

• The study was conducted via 1940 door-to-door interviews in metropolitan cities in Australia and New Zealand.
  
  
• Questionnaire and stimulus materials on the label elements were based from the qualitative research conducted in March 2002, pre-testing and two in-field pilot tests.
  
  
• 15 labelling elements were surveyed - date marking, the ingredients list, the nutrition information panel, country of origin, nutrient claims, preparation / storage instructions, percentage label, warning and advisory statements, allergen declaration, endorsements, GMO, novel food and irradiated food declarations and health claims.
  
  
• Unprompted and prompted awareness were measured.

What were the results?

• Results of study confirmed the qualitative research findings that different consumers report using labels for different reasons.   For example, date marks were used more regularly for perishable foods (eg dairy) and allergen declarations were relied upon for baked products, such as biscuits and dairy foods.
  
  
• Two thirds (66%) of those surveyed used the following elements – date marking, the ingredients list and the nutrition information panel.
  
  
• Least used elements – GMO declarations, health claim, allergen declaration, novel and irradiated food declarations.
  
  
• The use of nine of the fifteen label elements differed between Australia and New Zealand. New Zealanders reported higher awareness and use for the NIP, ingredient list, advisory statements, warning statements, GMO declarations, preparation and storage instructions, and novel food declarations.   Australian respondents reported a higher awareness of nutrient claims and greater proportion used the country of origin label element
  
  
• Consumers used an average of five label elements.
  
  
• There were two key reasons for not using the labels:

–   disinterest in labels

–    previous or previous positive experiences with foods therefore the label was use unnecessary.

• Endorsements, such as the Heart Foundation’s ‘pick the tick’ and date marks were rated by consumers as the most clear and easy to understand and most trustworthy.
  
  
• Genetically modified food declarations and the country of origin labels were the least clear and easy to understand.
  
  
• The survey showed most consumers do not have trouble in reading and interpreting nutrition information panels but struggle to use this information to compare products.
  
  
• Consumers focus on one nutrient only when comparing two products – usually fat.
  
  
• Consumers misinterpreted nutrient claims.
  
  
• One quarter of respondents were aware that the ingredients list are presented in descending order of quantity.
  
  
• 71% correctly interpret the percentage ingredient labels (once they were aware of them).
  
  
• “May contain nuts’ allergen statements were not considered to be useful for allergen sufferers.
  
  
• There were no major differences in demographic characteristics between consumers that use many label elements to those who use very few.

  Media contact: Mark Williams, Ms Worth’s Office   - 0401 147 558