Food labels and dairy – part of the healthy approach in the UK
New research released by The Dairy Council highlights an increased interest in both food labels and dairy products amongst consumers.
Just under 98% of British respondents reported that they consume dairy products – a slight increase from 96% in 2007. Of the respondents who consume dairy products, 93% eat or drink them every day; representing an increase from 88% in 2007.
Consumers’ use of food labels as a source of information about healthy foods has increased by 14% year on year. As well as looking to food labels more often to assist them in healthy decision-making, people are also turning more to ‘common sense’, with an increase from 3% last year to 20% this year. In contrast, the use of information provided by supermarkets has fallen sharply, from 13% to 6%.
Dr Judith Bryans, Director of The Dairy Council and registered nutritionist, noted that the findings solidified the notion that consumers are now more concerned about what they are eating. “This research highlights the fact that consumers are becoming more aware of the content of their food than ever before,” she said.
As people are ever more concerned with the foods they eat, yoghurt is being increasingly considered as healthy (from 85% to 88%), while over three quarters of consumers consider all dairy to be healthy (77%), and more than 9 out of 10 people consider milk to be a natural product.
