Consumer Science Task Force

Activities

Drivers of Energy-related Lifestyle Choices

In spite of an apparent broad consensus about encouraging people to reach and maintain “a healthy lifestyle” of eating and exercise patterns and a BMI in the 20-25 range, there is significant controversy about almost each step in the arguments supporting this thesis, especially from consumer and social science perspective. These disagreements have hardly been systematically addressed in scientific reviews, perhaps because very different disciplines are involved.

The task force has set up an Expert Group providing a forum for researchers from these different disciplines to debate and reach agreement on the points of controversy. This project started from the basic assumption that energy balance is a combination of energy in and energy out, both having their own determinants. Bringing all these determinants together will help build a coherent picture of energy balance. As obesity has severely increased over the last years, there has obviously been a change in the energy balance. The role of the Expert Group is to find out the reasons for the behaviours leading to these changes. Such reasons can include both conscious and unconscious, cognitive and emotional processes, which in turn are influenced by external factors like product offerings, advertising.

The originality of the paper will be to combine all the disciplines and the various perspectives together and will follow three steps:

• Identify consumers’ behaviour.
• Define whether this behaviour leads to a problem (obesity).
• If so, propose solutions to solve the problem.

The expected outcome of the Expert Group will be an improved communication to consumers, a better and more efficient use of their knowledge and the identification of the barriers that prevent consumers from making healthy choices. It will help to provide some recommendations to remove those barriers.

The paper will be submitted to a public health peer-reviewed journal.

Consumers Risk Perception of Food Choice

Although there is a large body of literature on risk perception and communication, relatively little information is available concerning consumers’ risk perception of food choice. Within the remit of this new Expert Group, the aim is therefore to understand consumers’ reaction towards different perceived or real risk factors, like product composition (E-numbers etc), new technologies (GMO, nanotechnologies ) or risks from over- or under consumption of particular food.

This is an important issue in the current market place, where the food industry is increasingly under pressure to create healthier products or to improve nutrition labelling. To this end, novel technologies and ingredients often needed for product innovation may give rise for concern to consumers leading to a low acceptance.

Anticipated impact of the project
Further insight into the relation between risk perception and food choice will allow both industry and the EU to better develop strategies to ensure that consumers are making their healthier choices based on appropriate and relevant facts.

The EU and the food industry will be better able to evaluate novel ingredients and technologies in terms of their anticipated consumer reactions.

What is the project ultimately expected to achieve?

• Consider the sources of risks that are important to the consumer:
  - nutritional composition / value ( related to non communicable diseases)
  - chemical contamination
  - microbial contamination
  - others?
• Understand consumer’s risk perception of food choices for:
  - processed foods
  - non-processed foods
• Establish the importance of risk perception in purchase decision.