May 31, 2006
While Americans continue to hear about how potentially dangerous trans fatty acids are to their health, new research from The NPD Group shows consumers have not changed their behavior when it comes to the foods they eat at restaurants.
They also remain unclear about which foods contain trans fats and whether restaurant foods contain more than foods at home.
In a recent NPD survey, consumers were asked how aware and concerned they were about the presence of trans fats in their food. Among adults 18+ years, overall awareness of trans fat was 94% and overall concern was 73%. Women and Baby Boomers are most concerned.
Although awareness and concern levels are high, many people still do not understand the basics of trans fats in foods.
Most consumers believe french fries and other fried foods are the primary culprits and are less aware of the trans fat content in baked goods, salty snacks, donuts, burgers and ice cream, which also contain significant amounts.
Of those people aware of trans fat, the overwhelming majority (65%) believed that restaurant food was more likely to contain trans fats than the food eaten at home.
While consumers with greater awareness of trans fats say they want to eat less of them at restaurants, there is no sign that those intentions are being carried out. In fact, sales of a number of the restaurant foods containing trans fats are growing, such as fried chicken sandwiches (up 12%), crackers (up 10%) and cookies (up 7%).
And, although many restaurants have introduced new products under different names, Americans still ate a lot more fried chicken last year (up 17%).
"One might conclude that the restaurant industry is at a tipping point," said Bonnie Riggs, Foodservice Industry Expert, The NPD Group.
"If public pressure requires restaurant operators to make nutritional information easily accessible, it could impact consumer purchasing of foods high in trans fats," she added.
