New study on nutrition The Germans are eating healthier again

Regional products are trendy
Consumers in this country seem to pay more and more attention to what they eat. According to a report of the news agency "AFP", this is the result of a recent investigation by Nielsen. As a result, people generally eat more consciously and increasingly abstain from fat, sugar and meat.

Almost every second pays attention to high quality
Less meat products, sweets and greasy foods: For many people in this country, it is increasingly important to be aware of the need to feed themselves, according to a recent study. 90 percent of consumers would therefore look for certain products and ingredients in the food, said the company Nielsen, according to the AFP on Thursday. At 51 percent, the preference for regional products was at the forefront of alternative nutritional styles. In addition, 48 percent of respondents would value high quality.

More and more people are deliberately looking at the ingredients of food. To ensure that this is easily possible, the consumer advocates of foodwatch now demand a larger font for the corresponding information. (Image: eldarnurkovic / fotolia.com)

Less fat and sugar
Nearly a third of the respondents (31 percent) reportedly reduced the consumption of meat, 23 percent consumed less sugar. About one in five (22 percent) took care to eat less fatty foods. In general, consumers would like "honest products" and "ethical and moral food compatibility", the report says. According to Anne-Kathrin Haubert of Nielsen, one could speak of a "paradigm shift in nutrition". The company had surveyed over 10,000 households in late summer last year.

Conscious food for better health and well-being
But how is it that so many people suddenly eat consciously and habits such as. a frequent meat consumption, change? According to the study, the focus is primarily on health aspects and one's own well-being. Nearly a quarter of respondents (72 percent) are willing to spend more money on high-quality products. As a result, the motto "main thing cheap" hardly plays a role with conscious eaters.

Many consumers are checking the ingredients of the products
In order to examine the ingredients of the products, every third party consciously takes time to make a purchase, according to the information. However, in order to be able to obtain thorough information, the labeling on the packages must also be legible and understandable. However, from the point of view of consumer organization foodwatch this is often not the case. Instead, according to the consumer advocates, the information on food packaging due to e.g. extremely small font and mini-line spacing for many people hard to decipher.

foodwatch criticized too small writing with the obligatory data
Since the end of 2014, according to the Food Information Regulation, a minimum font size of 1.2 millimeters across the EU for compulsory disclosures - based on the small "x", according to the organization's communication. On small packaging, the texts may be even smaller. Especially for the elderly, these are barely legible, so that some supermarket chains have already loupe attached to the shopping cart.

Foodwatch is now calling on the European Commission to enforce a larger minimum font size and to set criteria for good legibility of compulsory information (such as the ingredients list) by launching a corresponding e-mail action. (No)