YouGov Sweden AB © 2009 YouGov YouGov Nordic Food & Health Comments Question 2. What substance are you particularly concerned that food may contain? 2

YouGov Sweden AB © 2009 YouGov

YouGov Nordic Food & Health

CommentsQuestion 2. What substance are you particularly concerned that food may contain?

2

The substance most consumers are concerned about is additives, which applies for all countries.

The share mentioning additives has increased since last in all countries except Denmark.

Top 3 substances

Sweden

1. Additives 24%

2. Poison/toxic unhealthy substances 19%

3. Sugar 12%

Denmark

1. Additives 27%

2. Salmonella 19%

3. Colourants 18%

Norway

1. Additives 32%

2. Sugar 21%

3. Fat 14%

Finland

1. Additives 34%

2. Preservatives 13%

3. Colourants & Aspartame 10% (each)



100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

does

not

conta

inadded

sugar"

" "s

ugar-

free"

"does

not

conta

insu

gar"

"unsw

eete

ned"

"does

not

conta

insw

eete

ners

""l

ight"

"slig

htl

ysw

eete

ned"

"lig

htl

ysw

eete

ned"

"conta

ins

art

ifici

al

sweete

ner"

"sw

eete

ned"

Attitude to expressions used on food packaging – sugar/sweeteners

Question 3. What is your attitude to the statements below when they are printed on food packaging?

2

Base: All (Sweden n=520, Denmark n=511, Norway n=511, Finland n=515 )

24%

8%

11%

10%

"sugar-free"

"light"

"does not contain added sugar"

"lightly sweetened"

"slightly sweetened"

"sweetened"

"unsweetened"

"does not contain sweeteners"

"contains artificial sweetener"

"does not contain sugar"

Negative Positive Don’t know

35%

19%

21%

13%

24%

11%

11%

9%

12%

11%

11%

7%

16%

12%

14%

8%

72%

43%

50%

24%

22%

19%

27%

19%

40%

36%

37%

28%

69%

47%

54%

50%

53%

48%

50%

45%

= significant higher than last year+- = significant lower than last year

47%

58%

59%

70%

29%

45%

46%

66%

41%

54%

59%

64%

49%

45%

46%

61%

59%

46%

55%

61%

11%

23%

18%

52%

40%

37%

23%

41%

19%

12%

16%

31%

8%

14%

11%

16%

8%

6%

7%

15%

1%

2%

2%

0%

1%

2%

2%

0%

1%

2%

2%

0%

1%

1%

2%

0%

1%

3%

4%

1%

1%

2%

2%

0%

2%

2%

3%

1%

1%

2%

2%

1%

1%

2%

3%

0%

1%

3%

2%

1%

100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

does

not

conta

inadded

sugar"

" "s

ugar-

free"

"does

not

conta

insu

gar"

"unsw

eete

ned"

"does

not

conta

insw

eete

ners

""l

ight"

"slig

htl

ysw

eete

ned"

"lig

htl

ysw

eete

ned"

"conta

ins

art

ifici

al

sweete

ner"

"sw

eete

ned"

Very negative (1)

Quite negative (2)

Quite positive (4)

Very positive (5)

-

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

-

--

-

-



Which types of ingredients do consumers avoid consuming?

Question 13B. Do you try to avoid consuming any of the following ingredients?

2

Genetically modified ingredients 43% 38% 37% 41%Sweeteners 52% 30% 32% 29%Hardened fat 37% 30% 32% 33%Trans fats 48% 30% 25% 23%E-numbers 27% 29% 28% 22%Colourants 26% 28% 20% 25%Preservatives 28% 22% 16% 29%Flavour enhancers 30% 24% 13% 23%Saturated fats 23% 21% 18% 16%Sugar 21% 13% 21% 21%Fats 12% 18% 10% 25%Thickeners 18% 11% 6% 11%Stabilising agents 17% 10% 7% 12%Emulsifying agents 15% 11% 7% 10%Salt 5% 3% 12% 20%Lactose 8% 6% 7% 16%Phosphor 5% 6% 9% 8%Carbohydrates 6% 4% 9% 10%Polyunsaturated fats 5% 7% 4% 9%Nuts 5% 5% 6% 8%Sodium 4% 2% 2% 11%Milk 3% 2% 5% 6%Anti-oxidation agents 8% 5% 1% 1%Gluten 2% 3% 4% 2%Folic acid 2% 3% 2% 3%Egg 1% 2% 1% 3%Magnesium 1% 2% 2% 1%Dietary fibre 1%ProteinsIron 1%Don't avoid any of the above 11% 18% 18% 12%Don't know/No opinion 9% 9% 9% 5%


New!

+

+

+

+

-

- -

-

-

-

-

-

+

+



Which types of ingredients do consumers avoid consuming?

Question 13B. Do you try to avoid consuming any of the following ingredients?

2


Top 3 ingredients consumers try to avoid

Sweden

1. Sweeteners 52%

2. Trans fats 48%

3. Genetically Modified 43%

Denmark


2. Sweeteners 30 %

Hardened fat 30%

Trans fats 30%

Norway


2. Sweeteners 32 %

3. Hardened fat 32%

Finland


2. Hardened fat 33%

3. Sweeteners 29%

Preservatives 29%

Genetically modified food is on the top three list in all the Nordic countries regarding what consumers try to avoid. In Sweden there is a clear trend to avoid additives such as E-numbers, flavour enhancers, thickeners and stabilising agents.Few changes in Denmark, fewer trying to avoid fat in Sweden and Norway.



How healthy do consumers think that sugars/sugary substances are?

Question 14. How healthy/unhealthy do you think the following types of sugar/sweeteners are?

2

100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

Honey

Fru

itsu

gar

(fru

ctose

)

Gra

pe-

sugar

(glu

cose

)

Milk

sugar

(lact

ose

) N

orm

al su

gar

(sacc

haro

se)

Malt

G

luco

sesy

rup

Sw

eete

ners

A

spart

am

e

Sucr

alo

se

Normal sugar (saccharose)

Fruit sugar (fructose)

Grape-sugar (glucose)

Milk sugar (lactose)

Sweeteners

Aspartame

Sucralose

Glucose syrup

Unhealthy Healthy

100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

SwedenDenmark

NorwayFinland

Norm

al su

gar

(sacc

haro

se)

Fru

itsu

gar

(fru

ctose

)

Gra

pe-

sugar

(glu

cose

)M

ilk s

ugar

(lact

ose

)S

weete

ners

Asp

art

am

eS

ucr

alo

seG

luco

sesy

rup

1 Not healthy at all

2

4

5 Very healthy

Don’t know

Honey

Malt

5%

13%

11%

5%

15%

14%

15%

8%

16%

18%

15%

11%

13%

22%

23%

17%

34%

48%

58%

36%

28%

18%

16%

17%

32%

29%

26%

20%

80%

61%

71%

68%

70%

38%

51%

61%

46%

19%

29%

31%

67%

55%

60%

73%

33%

39%

36%

58%

28%

34%

35%

42%

19%

20%

17%

30%

19%

10%

8%

17%

4%

5%

7%

18%

4%

8%

6%

15%

2%

5%

3%

2%

0%

3%

2%

2%

2%

1%

2%

3%

5%

8%

7%

5%

9%

13%

13%

6%

9%

11%

11%

11%

16%

25%

20%

11%

19%

10%

8%

17%

45%

56%

51%

24%

34%

31%

36%

25%

7%

13%

11%

9%

20%

47%

37%

19%

41%

66%

51%

40%

= significant higher than last year+- = significant lower than last year


New!

New!

+ -

+

+

++-

-------

++

+

++

+



Effect of reducing food content to lose weight

Question 18. How effective do you think it would be to reduce the consumption of the following Food contents if you want to lose weight?

2

100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Sweden

Denmark

Norway

Finland

Sweden

Denmark

Norway

Finland

Sweden

Denmark

Norway

Finland

Herb

salt

M

inera

l sa

lt

Sea s

alt

Sugar

Fat

Carbohydrates

Ineffective Don’t knowEffective

100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Sweden

Denmark

Norway

Finland

Sweden

Denmark

Norway

Finland

Sweden

Denmark

Norway

Finland

Fat

Sugar

Carb

ohydra

tes

1 Very ineffective

2

4

5 Very effective

16%

9%

9%

3%

4%

10%

6%

1%

9%

12%

9%

6%

59%

83%

73%

89%

84%

79%

86%

89%

67%

60%

69%

67%

4%

4%

4%

1%

4%

4%

4%

2%

6%

7%

7%

6%


New!

= significant higher than the other countries= significant lower than the other countries



Conclusions

Half of all Nordic consumers are worried about what food may contain when they shop food. In Sweden and Norway we see an increasing share this year.

Additives in general are now what most consumers are worried about in all Nordic countries, which was not the case last year. Sweeteners, trans fats, genetically modified ingredients, hardened fats and flavour enhancers are what consumers try to avoid in Sweden.

A continuous trend from last year that less consumers find sugar unhealthy and more find artificial sweeteners unhealthy. However, still more consumers consider food with reduced or no sugar at all to be healthy than unheatlhy.

The new GDA label is already known to a vast majority of Nordic consumers and more than half of them do also look for it when shopping. Furthermore, the Fairtrade label has also had a positive trend last year.

Meat, namely pork, beef and chicken, are by far the most important kind of food that consumers like to know the origin, and do also avoid buying if not declared on the package. Meat and milk are also the kind of food most Swedish consumers only buy if its from their own country.

Food should not come from more than 100 km from the store to be called ”Locally produced“ according to half of the consumers (200 km 3 out of 4 Swedish consumers).

All in all, many signs of an urge for more natural and healthy food compared to previous year.

3

Documents

YouGov Sweden AB © 2009 YouGov YouGov Nordic Food & Health Comments Question 2. What substance are you particularly concerned that food may contain? 2