Cost More Important in Food Choices

WASHINGTONCost ranks right up there with taste and healthfulness for American food and beverage consumers, while calorie amount seem to losing its strong influence, according to the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation 2011 Food & Health Survey.

Although taste remains the top consideration (87 percent), 79 percent of consumers say price impacts their decision when deciding which foods and beverages to purchase, a 6 percent increase from 2010 and a noteworthy 15 percent increase since 2006. While healthfulness (66 percent), convenience (58 percent) and sustainability (52 percent) play roles in consumer decision making, no other motivator rose at the same rate as price over the past five years. Americans also say that lower prices are the top driver that would lead them to make more healthful choices when shopping for food.

The IFIC Foundation 2011 Food and Health Survey also found that significantly fewer Americans are concerned about their weight status when compared to last year; 50 percent of Americans describe themselves as overweight in 2011 compared to 57 percent in 2010. More Americans perceive their diet as extremely or somewhat healthful (62 percent) when compared to 2010 (53 percent). At the same time, fewer Americans report making dietary changes (59 percent in 2011 compared to 64 percent in 2010), and more Americans report that their physical activity levels are sedentary (43 percent)a significant increase from 2010 (37 percent). These contradictions are further evidenced by the fact that the number of people trying to lose or maintain weight (69 percent) has significantly decreased since 2010 (77 percent).

Perhaps this lack of interest in weight management is due to calorie confusion as only 9 percent of Americans can accurately estimate the number of calories they should consume in a day for a person of their age, height, weight and physical activity. Additionally, almost half of Americans are unable to provide an estimate of how many calories they burn in a day (60 percent offer inaccurate estimates). Furthermore, the majority of Americans do not keep track of calories consumed or burned, citing numerous barriers, including extreme difficulty and a lack of interest, knowledge and focus.

The survey also found Americans awareness of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans has increased (81 percent in 2011 compared to 71 percent in 2010). But, 95 percent of Americans could not name another healthy living" initiative beyond the Dietary Guidelines for Americans or MyPyramid.

Even without knowing about healthy initiatives, Americans report they are more receptive to positive food messages. More  say they would rather hear what to eat (63 percent) instead of what not to eat.  The interest in positive messaging rose 7 percent since 2009 when the survey last polled Americans on this sentiment.

And, despite significant attention on sodium in the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, other sodium-reduction initiatives, and media, Americans concern about sodium remains stable. A little more than half of Americans (53 percent) say they are very or somewhat concerned about their sodium intake, equal to last year (53 percent).

When it comes to food safety, trust of imported foods is low: Sixty-one percent of Americans believe imported food is less safe than foods produced in the United States citing less regulation as the top reason. Trust in the safety of the U.S. food supply, however, remains stable; half of Americans are extremely or somewhat confident in the safety of the U.S. food supply, similar to previous years. The top U.S. food safety concern continues to be foodborne illness (50 percent in 2011).