Most Finns read food labels, but consider them poorly visible and hard to find. According to the survey conducted for Evira, the Finnish Food Safety Authority, consumers' interest in package labelling has increased slightly.
The survey also shows that only few consumers complain about defective food and that complaints are usually sent to the retailer who has sold the product in question. Many consumers do not know to which authority they should address their possible complaints.
Campaign encouraged, survey measured
The first part of the package labelling survey, carried out by the Taloustutkimus market research house for Evira, was conducted at the end of 2008. The 'Fresh face' campaign, implemented throughout 2009, provided consumers with information on food labelling and encouraged them to read labels more carefully.
In addition to Evira, the Martha Organization and the Finnish Consumers' Association took part in the campaign arranging events and theme months on different subjects. In June, for example, the Marthas provided consumers with information on the cold chain, label dates and storage issues. Consumers were also encouraged to give feedback on insufficient labelling to the proper party, that is, to the local food control authorities.
The second part of the survey, measuring the impact of the campaign, was carried out in January 2010.
Information on ingredients and dates is read most often
In the first stage of the survey, 81 percent of Finnish consumers said that they read package labelling, but the one-year campaign increased the number to 86 percent.
Most often people seek information on the product's fat and energy content and on general ingredients, as well as on the 'best before' and 'use by' dates. The campaign increased the number of consumers looking for date information in particular from 32 to 48 percent.
Consumers are also interested in the origins of food: domestic origins are preferred.
Clarity needed for package labelling
According to the package labelling survey, more than half of Finnish consumers think that labelling is poorly visible. Nearly one fifth also said that they are difficult to find on packaging.
Experiences are largely similar irrespective of the age of respondent. In the age group of over 50, however, nearly three out of four respondents suffer from the poor visibility of labelling.
10 percent of all do not understand labelling due to foreign words or codes, for example.
Campaign target was achieved
Risto Nikunlaakso, researcher of Taloustutkimus Oy, says that the results of the survey showed that the campaign had increased general awareness of food package, date and additive labelling, and of proper complaint channels.
"Differences are not very big but clear enough to prove that the campaign succeeded."
Both stages of Evira's package labelling survey were implemented as part of the Omnibus study by Taloustutkimus.
Finns aged from 15 to 79 were interviewed face-to-face mainly at their homes. One thousand Finns were interviewed during both rounds, and the responses were weighed to reflect the whole population.
Kesko Food introduced GDA labelling on its Pirkka products in 2007. GDA labels provide easy-to-understand information on the energy, sugar, fat, saturated fat, and salt content in a portion of food, and what percentage this accounts for in a person’s recommended daily diet. The first GDA-labelled Pirkka products arrived in stores.