Millions Ignoring Food Labelling - New Research, UK

Main Category: Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 29 May 2008 - 3:00 PDT

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New research shows that one in three men and one in five women don't read the nutrition information label on food packaging. And, the under 25's are more concerned with calorie counting than they are with the levels of salt, protein, fibre and fat they are taking in.

Standard Life Healthcare conducted the research* following on from its study last year which showed that people are confused by the mixed messages they get about  healthy eating.

The research among 1000 adults found that women are much more likely to check out the fat and calorie content of food than men. Protein, fibre and salt catch men's attention more than women's though. Young adults under 25 are much less interested in fat and salt content than older adults but are much more focussed on calories.

Standard Life Healthcare spokesperson Mandy Blanks said: 'It seems that many of the messages about food contents are getting through with people focussing on the elements that are typically of interest to their generation. Sugar content was of most importance to people over 55 for example. But the issue is how many people don't check out what's healthy and what's not and that suggests that there is still confusion. Minor changes to diet can not just help overall health it can also have a major impact on mood and general wellbeing too so it's worth getting good advice on nutrition.'

Standard Life Healthcare has long advocated access to medically reviewed advice about nutrition and fitness and all its private medical insurance customers have free online access to qualified advice, alerts and updates. More information at http://www.standardlifehealthcare.co.uk

* A sample of 1002 GB adults aged 16-64 was interviewed by TNS. Interviewing was conducted by CAWI over the Internet from 20th - 22nd May 2008. The sample has been weighted to represent the adult population of Great Britain aged 16-64.

Standard Life Healthcare