FOOD STANDARDS AGENCY STUDY

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Market research and

consumer protection

CURRICULUM TOPICS
Stakeholders
Primary/secondary research
Qualitative and quantitative
research

Introduction

MARKETING

GLOSSARY

The UK government set up the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in 2000 by Act of Parliament.
It is a non-ministerial government department. This means that it reports to the government but
it is run by a Board which acts on the publics behalf. This ensures it can act independently to
protect consumers. The public can have confidence that the decisions it takes about food
safety are in their best interest.
The FSAs role is to:
provide advice and information to the public and to the government on food safety,
nutrition and diet
protect the public through effective enforcement and monitoring
support consumer choice through accurate and meaningful labeling of food.

Act of Parliament: a law created

by the government.
Consumers: the users of a
product, who may or may not be
the buyers of it.
Vision: a concise summary in
words, setting out what an
organisation is striving to achieve.
Stakeholders: individuals or
organisations that have an interest
in decisions made by a particular
business.

The FSAs vision is Safe food and healthy eating for all. The FSA seeks to achieve this vision by:
putting the consumer first
operating in an open and independent way
carrying out actions that are based on science and the best available evidence.
The FSA works with a range of stakeholders. Stakeholders are groups and individuals that
have an interest in what the FSA does and the decisions it makes. The work of the FSA is
important to everyone in society because we all have an interest in food safety and healthy living.
Food from restaurants, supermarkets, and school kitchens all needs to meet certain standards.

Non
government
offices

Food producers
e.g. farmers

Stakeholders
in the FSA

Food consumers
e.g. households
Food industry
i.e. supermarkets
and manufacturers

Different stakeholder groups have different concerns and issues. For example,
businesses need to be sure that they are meeting food requirements for consumers. The
FSA looks at all activities from farm to fork to help them meet requirements at every step
of the food process.
local government and law enforcement agencies need to be aware of what to do when
problems occur, for example, shops selling out-of-date food. The FSA provides standards
to enable food inspectors or health and safety officials to take remedial action.
consumers want helpful information about food. The FSA carries out a range of work to
make sure food is safe to eat and provides consumers with up-to-date information. This
helps them to make healthy choices about what they eat.
This case study focuses on how the FSA uses scientific and market research to provide
consumers with reliable up-to-date information, enabling them to make healthy choices
about food. It shows how market research helped to develop the traffic lights system of
labelling food (also known as signposting). This gives consumers an easy way to understand
the breakdown of fats, salts, sugars and carbohydrates in food.

Market research
Market research is about finding out what customers and consumers think, want or need. For
example, market research helps businesses decide on what new products or services they will
offer.

using traffic lights

to make healthier choices

F O O D S TA N D A R D S A G E N C Y

Other government
departments

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FOOD STANDARDS AGENCY STUDY

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GLOSSARY
Aims and objectives: the end
purposes that you seek to achieve.
Primary research: carried out
for the first time to meet a specific
objective.
Secondary research: desk
research involving the collection of
information that is already
published.
MINTEL: market research
company.

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Before carrying out market research, it is important to define the aims and objectives of
the research, that is, what does the consumer or organisation want to find out and why. These
questions guide the market research process and lead to solutions. By analysing the results of
market research, a business can improve its products or service in line with what consumers
want.
One of the FSAs main aims is to identify what customers want, need or expect to see on food
labelling. Its objective is to help consumers make informed choices about which foods they
buy, for instance, if they had a nut allergy or were on a low calorie diet. One of the starting
recommendations was that front-of-pack labelling should have a user-friendly approach.
Customers wanted labelling to provide information about the nutritional content of foods at
a glance.
To meet the aims and objectives the FSA devised a market research campaign with a series of
questions. These included:
What sort of information would you like to see on packaging?
How could the information be set out for ease of communication?
During 2004/5, FSA carried out an extensive programme of research over four separate
studies with consumers, health charities and other stakeholders. These studies considered:
the advantages of the various front-of-pack labelling formats compared against a
benchmark of no signposting
what products the signposts would be useful for
how consumers would use the signposting to help buying decisions
consumers preferences for the format of the label
The outcomes of this programme of research helped to develop the Traffic Light front of pack
labelling scheme. Many companies, like Sainsburys, ASDA, Waitrose, Budgens, Londis, McCain
Foods, Marks & Spencer and the Co-Operative Society now use this on their products.
Each year the FSA also carries out face-to-face interviews with consumers to produce its
Consumer Attitudes to Food survey. This research method means that people get a chance to
say exactly what they think. The research aims to:
track peoples attitudes to and awareness of food issues
improve the publics knowledge and understanding of those areas for which the FSA is
responsible
help the FSA develop effective communications.
Over 3,500 people gave their views for the 2007 survey. The 2007 survey showed that:
many people had an increasing awareness of the 5-a-day fruit and vegetables message
about 30% more consumers were aware that they should eat five portions of fruit and
vegetables a day compared with 2000
increasing numbers of consumers are worried about the amount of fat, salt and sugar in
food because they understood how these may damage their health
a growing number of consumers said that they looked at nutritional information on the
labels to check the fat and salt content.
However, the survey showed that there is still room for improvement. It showed that whilst
40% of people snacked on fresh fruit in between meals, almost 35% snacked on biscuits or
cakes and a further 20% on crisps or savoury snacks.

Primary and secondary research

Market research can be either primary or secondary. Primary research is new research,
carried out to answer specific issues or questions. It can involve questionnaires, surveys or
interviews with individuals or small groups. Secondary research makes use of information
previously researched for other purposes and publicly available. This is also known as desk
research. Secondary research includes published research reports in a library, surveys or the
Internet. It can also include scientific reports produced by medical councils, universities or
government, for example, The Royal College of Physicians, British Heart Foundation and the
Department of Health.
The FSA also uses reports produced by research organisations such as MINTEL. These give
the results of large scale surveys, which companies commission to learn more about what
consumers think of their products. However, the FSA does not make decisions or rely solely
on research by third parties, unless its own research supports the findings.

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There are different ways of obtaining and analysing information:

Questionnaires provide answers to standard questions. These can be carried out by mail,
online or face-to-face and can cover a large number of people.
Interviews are usually one-to-one and focus on a list of questions.
Focus groups enable a number of people to discuss ideas or topics together and provide a
range of views.
Organisations often undertake secondary research first to find out what already is known
about the subject. It is cheaper than setting up primary research. As an example, the FSA ran
a major television, newspaper and other advertising campaign to raise public awareness of its
Traffic Lights campaign. The campaign consisted of three 10-second TV adverts, a poster on
a bus side, a six-sheet poster, a press advertisement and an advertorial in the Sun. The first
campaign took place between mid-January and mid-March 2007. A further 10-second TV
advertisement was launched on the 5th March. The FSA undertook some primary research
interviews to find out if how effective the campaign had been in making people more aware.
65% were aware
of food labelling
adverts

50% had seen

traffic lights
TV averts

75% looked at front

and back of packs
for nutritional information

35% had seen

adverts in
newspapers

50% believed
adverts were
relevant to them

Summary of Traffic
Lights campaign findings

25% had seen

adverts on side
of busses

20% had seen

adverts on
posters

Quantitative and qualitative research

Quantitative research presents information numerically, for example, by use of
percentages. All respondents in interviews or questionnaires answer the same questions to
ensure consistency. For example, the following question was used before and after the
advertising campaign:
How often, if at all, do you use information on salt, fat, sugar or saturated fat on the FRONT
of the pack when it is available when choosing which food product to buy?
01: Never/Not seen 02: Rarely 03: Occasionally
04: Usually 05: Always 06: Do not purchase food
The results of this question for the period before and after the advertising campaign were
shown as a chart to make it easy to understand.

72%

Pre advertsing
19
19
19
16
27

75%

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GLOSSARY
Advertorial: an advertisement in
a newspaper or magazine that is
designed to look like an article by
the writers of the magazine.
Quantitative research:
numbers and figures that can be
used to produce charts, graphs
and statistics.
Respondents: those who have
taken part in market research.
Qualitative research: research
to find out peoples views and
feelings often using open ended
questions.
Open ended questions:
questions without a fixed answer
that may develop in several ways.
Random quota: a limited
amount or number that is officially
allowed chosen by chance.
Trends: general development or
change in a situation or in the way
that people are behaving.

Post advertsing
22

Always

19

Usually

19

Occasionally

14

Rarely

25

Never/Not seen

By using both quantitative and qualitative research, the FSA was able to maximise the range of
data available for effective analysis. For example, it commissioned a survey of 2,000 adults using
Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI). This plays the TV adverts and shows posters and
press adverts to respondents. Each interviewer had a random quota of people. The interview
group had a mix of gender, age and working status to ensure a representative sample. A sample
is a small part of something intended as representative of the whole group. For example, it would
be impossible to survey the whole country. By using a carefully selected sample, the FSA analyses
and makes judgements about what the overall trends are. By analysing sample data, the FSA
can draw conclusions about what the results would be for the larger group.

Analysis and use of market research

The market research showed that increasing numbers of consumers are aware of the work of the
FSA, the importance of a healthy diet and how the traffic light system guides their purchasing.

F O O D S TA N D A R D S A G E N C Y

Qualitative research finds out opinions through open-ended questions. The FSA
used primary qualitative research when designing the traffic light scheme. It talked to small
groups of medical professionals, consumers and government advisers. It also used secondary
research taken from scientific studies by bodies like Diabetes UK. This helped the FSA to
gather all relevant information to ensure that the scheme would fulfil requirements.

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GLOSSARY
Incentive: a company may give
its employees a bonus payment to
achieve greater productivity.

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This system makes it easy for consumers to make healthier food choices quickly and easily.
Healthy eating is all about getting the overall balance right. Consumers should look for
products with green, amber or red coloured labels on the front of the pack. For example,
when deciding between two pizzas, the colours guide the consumer on which has lower fat or
salt, helping them decide which one to buy. It also helps the retailers by showing that they are
taking a responsible approach in providing nutritional information for consumers.
Red - shows high amounts of fat/saturated fat/sugar/and/or salt. Its fine to eat this
food occasionally or as a treat, but think about how often you choose it and how
much of it you eat
Amber - shows medium of fat/saturated fat/sugar and /or salt, making it an OK
choice, although going for green is even better.
Green - shows low amounts of fat/saturated fat/sugar and /or salt, which makes it a
healthy choice
The front of pack traffic light colouring delivers three main benefits:
It makes it easier for consumers to eat more healthily,
Encourages consumers to look for and demand healthier food,
Provide businesses with an incentive to provide healthier food. There is a pay-off to cutting
back on fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar in products as consumers will increasingly prefer these.
The traffic light system has been adopted by a range of major UK retailers. Waitrose for
example describes how the scheme works with its products: The easy-to-follow front of pack
format allows customers to see the nutritional content of products at a glance. A majority of
Waitrose customers use the information to help them make healthier choices. Traffic Lights
appear on a range of Waitrose products including ready meals, sandwiches, pizzas, vegetable
accompaniments and beefburgers.

hily?
Do you want to eat more healt
The Food Standards Agency has
developed a traffic light label that gives you
independent expert scientific dietary advice
to help you make healthier choices quickly and easily.
Look for products with green, amber or red
coloured labels on the front of the pack. These
show you at a glance if the food you are thinking
about buying has low, medium or high amounts
of fat, saturated fat, sugars and salt, helping
you get a better balance.

The Times Newspaper Limited and MBA Publishing Ltd 2007. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure accuracy
of information, neither the publisher nor the client can be held responsible for errors of omission or commission.

Healthy eating
is all about
getting the ove
rall balance righ
t.

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The Agencys traffic light approach is fully supported by key medical institutions and well respected
organisations, such as British Medical Association, The National Consumer Council, WHICH?
Magazine and the British Heart Foundation. Having the support of these influential groups means
that consumers recognise that the research is valid and that they can trust the information.
Developing this approach was based on both consumer research and scientific-based secondary
research. This is research carried out under scientific conditions such as laboratory testing.

Conclusion
The FSA uses science-based evidence about healthy eating and food to protect consumers
and public health. It also uses existing market research about food consumption produced by
organisations such as MINTEL as well as conducting its own research. The FSA carries out
market research with consumers, producers and retailers to identify ways to educate the
public about diet and food issues.
The FSAs traffic light colour-coded system, developed after research, gives consumers a
useful tool to help with healthy food choices. Evaluation after the advertising campaign shows
that the proportion of people now referring to the nutritional information on the front and
back of packaging has increased from 72% to 75%. The FSA conducts regular research to
evaluate how consumers are using the traffic light system. This helps it to assess the value of
this approach and to make ongoing improvements.

Questions
1. Give examples of groups with which the FSA carried out its evidence-based scientific
research and market research? What was it trying to find out from this research?
2. What is the difference between primary and secondary market research? How did
primary research help to create the Traffic Lights scheme and evaluate the effectiveness of
advertising?
3. Explain the difference between quantitative
and qualitative research. Why is it important
for the FSA to carry out both types of research
in order to achieve its objectives?
4. Make recommendations as to how the FSA
can further protect public health and protect
the interests of consumers in relation to food.

www.food.gov.uk