Britons reject FSA anti-salt campaign
After millions of pounds sterling have been invested in a comprehensive anti-salt media campaign to convince British consumers to reject salt, the government's Food Standards Agency, which has led the charge, reported this week on Consumer Attitudes to Food Standards . Bottom line: the money's been wasted!
Britons remain unconvinced on salt despite the media barrage disparaging salt. Unpromped, 3,513 respondents were asked "Are there any issues related to food that you have concerns about?" Only 4% identified "salt content" as a concern, fourth among concerns and only 1% higher than in 2005. Less than half (46%) have been convinced that there are any issues with food (Chart 30).
British consumers, however, well know the politically-correct answer. Prompted by the massive PR campaign to answer "yea" or "nay" about whether they are "concerned" about "the amount of salt in food," more than half (54%) agree, ahead of fat (46%)(Chart 35). Thus, FSA may feel it is getting the taxpayers' money's worth -- except that respondents don't seem to be internalizing the message, just regurgitating what's expected. And the reason is also clear: most rely on TV news and somewhat fewer on newspapers for their information; missing entirely is any mention of reliance on health care providers as information sources (Charts 37 and 41).
FSA may find trouble brewing in one other finding. While one-third of respondents continue to feel the information the agency provides is "independent/unbiased" there was a sharp 29% increase in consumers who agreed that the agency was promoting official government policy (Chart 49).
