British consumers demand increased transparency and information on food products: Survey

British consumers’ trust in the food industry has been significantly damaged by food scandals such as the horsemeat crisis, according to independent research commissioned by Trace One.

The study, conducted by TNS on behalf of Trace One, consisted of 2,298 adults in the UK aged 16 and over.

In the survey, 63% of shoppers said that their trust in the food industry had been dented by scandals such as the horsemeat crisis and incidents in West Yorkshire and Leicester where food contents were found to be vastly different from their labels.

Most shoppers were in agreement on the measures that retailers should take to win their trust back, with around 83% saying that they want increased transparency and information for food products.

Trace One Northern Europe senior vice president Nick Martin said that it is crucial that retailers and manufacturers give shoppers the information they need, when they need it.

"To do this, they must have complete transparency and visibility across the entire supplyline: something that is sadly all too often lacking. Retailers, manufacturers and suppliers should be able to collaborate and communicate and know exactly what is in their products, where it came from and at what stage it was added," Martin said.

When asked about which information on food packaging was the most important, 60% of shoppers listed health information such as calorie or fat counts as the first or second most important information on a label.

Ethics, such as whether food was fair trade or battery farmed, was identified as the least important with only 9% of consumers placing it as the most important consideration, and 49% placing it last or second from last.

Farming methods were important to consumers, with 15% of survey respondents ranking them as the most important consideration, and just 32% ranking them as the least or second least, lower than any other factor.

In addition, about 64% of shoppers stated that allergy warnings are so overused that products most probably do not contain anything harmful to allergy sufferers.

Nick Martin said that while the industry is bound by law to include allergy information, it needs to use food labelling to clearly state the exact reason for any warning, so consumers can understand the risks and make an informed judgement.

"More broadly, the industry needs to be sure it is giving consumers what they want and need: whether ensuring that health and farming information is clearly and comprehensively displayed, or targeting products at older or younger shoppers with more specific country of origin or ethics information.

"In order to do this we need collaboration and transparency across the industry, from the farm to the factory to the shop shelf. Only with this can retailers be certain that they are attracting customers and securing their trust," Martin said.