Nutrition Report 2019
More and more Germans buy consciously and pay attention to a healthy diet with less sugar and a lot of fruits and vegetables. This is a result of the nutrition report 2019 "Germany, how it eats", which the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) recently presented. For the report, 2018 and 1.000 consumers over 14 were interviewed on their shopping and eating habits in October and November.
Food must taste - this view is 99 percent of Germans. Around 91 percent pay attention to a healthy and varied diet. For example, 71 percent of consumers consume fruit and vegetables every day and 64 percent daily dairy products such as yogurt and cheese. Only 28 percent of Germans eat meat and sausages every day, two years ago they were still 34 percent. There is an increasing interest in vegetarian foods, but only a small proportion consistently abstains from meat and animal products. So only seven percent feed vegan or vegetarian.
41 percent of women and at least every third man pay attention to a lower calorie diet. Nevertheless, every fourth German at least once a day to sweets or savory nibbles. The price loses importance compared to previous years. In the latest survey, food for 32 percent of respondents had to be cheap in the first place, in previous years it was still 36 percent.
When shopping, the look on the label is routine for many people. You read the contents and additives (84%), the source (80%), and the best before date (79%). Other important points are references to allergens (72%) and nutritional information (68%). More than half of the consumers pay attention to the amount of sugar and the fat content of the food. For finished products, it is important for consumers to contain less sugar (71%), unhealthy trans fats (68%) and salt (38%).
81 percent want an official animal welfare seal that ensures a better husbandry of livestock. Many are also interested in whether the food was produced in an environmentally friendly way and under fair, social conditions. Consumers are aware that high standards in production also have their price. In this way, the Germans would be prepared to dig deeper for meat that was produced under particularly animal-friendly conditions. However, the question remains whether the good intentions would actually reflect in the buying behavior.
Heike Kreutz, www.bzfe.de
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