75% of Israeli public does not regularly read nutritional info on food
Against the backdrop of reforms in labelling requirements, the Israeli Consumer Council via the Geocartography Survey Institute conducted a survey on Israeli consumer habits
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFRed 'traffic light' nutrition labels are seen on cream cheese products on Israeli supermarket shelves.(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Against the backdrop of reforms in labelling requirements, a new survey found that 50.1% of Israeli consumers believe that the quality of the product is the most important factor prior to their decision to buy it, while the price of the consumer product (22.1%) and its ingredients (22.7%), are far behind among the considerations taken when picking a food product.The Israeli Consumer Council via the Geocartography Survey Institute conducted the survey on consumer habits.Despite widespread public support for product labeling reform, and despite the ongoing "health trend," the survey found that only 25.4% of consumers make sure to read the nutritional information listed on the food packaging, while the rest "sometimes read," "rarely read," or "never read" the product labelling.Ofer Merom, CEO of the Consumer Council, commented on the results of the survey, saying that "the new reform is welcome, and it will increase the transparency of the companies towards consumers, and help to promote awareness of prudent and correct consumerism. However, the effects of the reform can only be seen over time and only to the extent that it is joined by other effective measures in the field of education, by limiting the publication of harmful products and other channels.""The results of the survey show that at least as of now, the average Israeli consumer does not give sufficient weight to the food components he purchases, whether for lack of awareness or for lack of knowledge and understanding of the effect of harmful components on their health," stressed Merom. "Therefore, we intend to promote a project that will help consumers easily check the nutritional components of the food before purchase, and know immediately whether the product they intend to purchase is healthy or harmful - and why, all by simple and accessible means. "The survey revealed additional discrepancies in the practice of good consumer habits:69.8% of respondents "heard" or "know" the product of the labelling reform, compared with 30.2% who did not hear about it. 82.9% of respondents said that having better labelling on a product would change their consumption habits, the rest indicating that they "think" or are "confident" that labelling will not affect their buying habits at all.37.8% of Israeli consumers trust products produced by companies in Israel, compared with 15.4% of respondents who rely more on food companies from abroad.45.7% of respondents rely more heavily on large food companies, compared to 10.4% who trust smaller food companies.
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