Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Top food claims sought by consumers: 'healthy' and 'low fat'

Relaxnews
Tuesday 01 March 2011 01:00 GMT
Comments

The most important food claims for consumers when buying a product are that it's good for you and low in fat.

That's according to the findings of a January survey that polled a thousand shoppers in the UK. The survey, carried out by food and drink trend tracking source MMR, found that 51 percent of consumers actively look for the word "healthy" when shopping for a food product. The next most popular food claim was "low or no fat," sought by 38 percent of respondents. Sharing the third spot at 34 percent were the terms "free range," "low or no saturated fat," "natural" and "low or no sugar." On the bottom rung was "Fairtrade."

"When UK consumers shop for food, there is a clear hierarchy of appealing product claims," MMR spokesman Mat Lintern told online trade magazine FoodNavigator.com. "First, they seek products that promise to benefit themselves, then animal welfare and their local area, and then those that address the plights of the rest of the world."

Here's a list of the most sought-out food claims, according to the survey results of MMR's Pulse Programme.

1. Healthy

2. Low or no fat

3. Free range; low or no saturated fat; natural; low or no sugar

4. Free from artificial colors and flavors; wholegrain; recyclable packaging; locally produced; animal welfare; Fairtrade

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in