Food Standards Agency launches next phase of signposting research

Wednesday 18 May 2005

Ref: 2005/0578

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) today announced the launch of the largest research project it has undertaken to date, to look at what consumers would like to see on front-of-pack labelling.

The Agency will conduct this research as part of its work to develop a labelling scheme that can be adopted by retailers and manufacturers to help consumers make healthier choices when they shop.

FSA Director of Consumer Choice and Dietary Health Gill Fine said: 'Consumers want the healthy choice to be the easy choice, one that makes sense for them and their families.

'Many sectors of the food industry have introduced their own signposting schemes.

'Although we welcome action to help make healthier eating easier, we are concerned that different schemes may cause confusion.

'We want to know what works best for consumers and that's what this research is all about. The results will be used to develop a single, easy-to-understand scheme that could be the same wherever you shop.'

A total of 2,600 people will be interviewed to examine which of the four potential schemes they find most useful in helping them to assess the nutritional content of food quickly and easily.

The concepts that are to be tested have been developed through Agency research and in consultation with consumer groups and the food industry.

The results of the research will be published later this year and will be used to inform the development of guidance for manufacturers and retailers on how the final scheme will work.

The guidance will be put out for consultation with the intention that a signposting scheme will be ready to roll out in 2006.

The methodology for the research was agreed following a consultation in March asking for comments on the proposed format and scope.

The research will examine shoppers' use and understanding of, and preference for, four possible concepts:

GDA-based concept with colour coding: indicating the amount of fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar provided per serving, together with the GDA for each nutrient; accompanied by colours to indicate whether the content of each nutrient in the food is high, medium or low

GDA-based concept monochrome: indicating the amount of fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar provided per serving, together with the GDA for each nutrient

Multiple traffic lights: with a separate high, medium or low rating (and corresponding red, amber or green colour coding) for each of fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar

Simple traffic light: providing an overall (colour coded) rating for the food as a whole, with descriptive wording

Research methodology

• The four concepts will be tested together alongside products without any signposting to act as a benchmark against which to assess the effectiveness of the concepts being tested.
• In total, 2,600 interviews will be conducted, of which 100 will be conducted specifically with consumers from ethnic minorities to ensure that their views are appropriately represented.
• Interviews will take place at a number of locations throughout the UK and will cover a fully representative sample of consumers in terms of age, gender and socio-economic group.
• Each scheme will appear on life-sized photographed images of real products from the following categories – breakfast cereal/cereal bars, traditional ready meals, ethnic ready meals, meal components (e.g. pizza/burgers) and treats (crisps/cake).
• Interviewees will be shown products both in isolation and in pairs to explore use and understanding of the proposed schemes. All interviewees will also be asked which format they prefer and why.
• Interviewees will be asked to consider statements on how easy they find the formats to use, their helpfulness in making healthy choices, how useful they would find a front-of-pack labelling scheme and which product categories of those they have been shown they regularly purchase.

Notes to editors

The Agency's work to developing a signposting scheme supports both the Government's Choosing Health White Paper, and the Agency's Action Plan on Food Promotion and Children's Diet.

Agency's signposting timeline – work undertaken to date

July 2004 – Agency held a stakeholder meeting to discuss planned signposting consumer research, at which the five signposting concepts for inclusion in the research were agreed.

November 2004 – First phase of consumer research published demonstrating strong approval and support for the idea of front-of-pack signpost labelling, which people felt would make it easier to assess the nutritional content of foods and make healthier choices.

December 2004 – Further stakeholder meeting held to discuss the outcomes of the first phase of research and how the second phase of consumer research should be taken forward. As agreed at this meeting, a signposting advisory group was formed, including representatives from food manufacturing, retailing and consumer organisations, and was invited to contribute to the development of the research work commissioned by the Agency.

February 2005 – Agency commissioned qualitative consumer research to examine those elements from a range of five GDA-based options that consumers find most useful. The research tested formats with and without colour coding, and with simple bar charts, to establish which consumers found most helpful in getting the GDA message across.

March 2005 – outcome of focus groups on GDA-based signposting options published, together with a consultation on the proposed methodology for the quantitative research to test the effectiveness of the potential schemes.