A baseline 2006 survey conducted by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation, Washington, D.C., entitled “Food & Health Survey: Consumer Attitudes Toward Food, Nutrition & Health,” as well as other applicable IFIC Foundation research, can help answer these and other questions.
What do consumers know about nutrition and diets? Consumers know the basics: that physical activity (92% of respondents), weight (92%) and diet (89%) are “somewhat” or “extremely” influential on a person’s overall health. However, they are more uncertain about the specifics involving how to implement the behaviors. For example, while consumers are concerned about their weight and say they frequently look for calorie information on food labels, nearly 9 out of 10 (88%) are unable to accurately estimate the number of calories they should eat on an average day. Close to half (43%) would not even venture a guess.
Do consumers believe it is possible to balance calories, eat healthfully, and enjoy foods at the same time? Consumers say they feel limited by their own responsibilities, priorities and lifestyles, and often choose foods they do not enjoy or eat in a way they know is not healthy to lose weight. However, when asked which factors impact their purchasing, taste overrules price, healthfulness and convenience.
Where do food products fit into the solution? Food producers and processors are in a unique position to make healthful foods taste good and help consumers manage calories. However, collaboration and mutual understanding between health scientists and food scientists is integral regarding the feasibility of producing more “ideal” foods, while maintaining key functional properties (i.e., consistency, freshness, etc.).
As one consumer wryly stated, “I want my food to taste great and have negative calories so that the more I eat, the thinner I would get!”
Sylvia Rowe is president of SR Strategy and an adjunct professor at Tufts University. She is also past president and CEO of the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation. Shelley Goldberg is a registered dietitian and IFIC Foundation’s director of nutrition communications. Rowe is a member of Virgo Publishing’s Food Science Advisory Board.
