HC Deb 25 March 2003 vol 402 c196W
Mr. Roger Williams

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the percentage of consumers(a) confident and (b) not confident in food labelling claims in each of the last 10 years. [102863]

Ms Blears

The Government do not collate detailed information on consumer confidence in food labelling claims. However, over the last three years the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has conducted an annual survey, "Consumer Attitudes to Food Standards", which asks consumers whether they are concerned about the accuracy of food labelling.

A copy of the latest survey for 2002, which contains comparative material from the previous two years, has been placed in the Library and is available on the FSA's website at www.food.gov.uk. The responses show just over a third, or 34 per cent., have concerns about the accuracy of food labelling.

2000 2001 2002
Concern about accuracy of food labels
Yes (percentage) 35 35 34
No (percentage) 62 62 63
Number questioned (3,152) (3,120) (3,173)
Level of concern
Very Concerned (percentage) 22 19 23
Fairly concerned (percentage) 57 56 54
Slightly concerned (percentage) 21 23 22
Number questioned (1,042) (1,041) (1,135)