Latest Food Standards Agency Public Attitudes Tracker Results published
Results from the latest Food Standards Agency (FSA) Biannual Public Attitudes Tracker Survey has just been published, and finds salt intake is still a public concern.
The FSA conducts a tracking survey with consumers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in order to monitor changes in consumer attitudes towards food-related issues.
The latest report, carried out in November 2017 shows that the top wider issues of concern to those surveyed were:
The amount of sugar in food (52%)
food waste (48%)
food prices (46%)
and animal welfare (43%)
43% of respondents reported concern about the amount of salt in food. Concern varied between groups of people, particularly between:
• Those aged 50-65 compared to those aged 16-25 (29%)
• Those in Northern Ireland (57%) compared to those in England (42%) and Wales (40%)
• Those living in London compared to those living in the East Midlands (33%)
Whilst this highlights the continued importance of salt reduction, the decline in concern over the years suggests a lack of awareness amongst the public. It is therefore clear that more needs to be done by the food industry and the government to get the importance of salt reduction back on the agenda, and salt levels down in the UK. With average intakes now 15% less than they were since 2001, the UK is clearly leading the way in salt reduction and will hopefully continue to do so, providing more companies voluntarily adhere to PHE's Salt Targets.
See the full report here
