The International Food Information Council (IFIC) released its 2024
Food & Health Survey today, revealing the perceptions, beliefs,
and behaviors that influence Americans’ food and beverage
decisions. This iteration marks the 19th consecutive year that IFIC
conducted its signature consumer survey.
The 2024 IFIC Food &
Health Survey covers a wide range of topics from farm to fork,
including food production, food safety, eating patterns and diets,
specific food or beverage ingredients as well as consumers’
relationship with food, purchase drivers, and trust in information
sources. Newer to the survey this year are questions regarding
medication and lifestyle choices, ultraprocessed foods, and
artificial intelligence.
“The 2024 IFIC Food &
Health Survey is a comprehensive snapshot of the complex factors
that shape Americans’ food and beverage decisions,” said Wendy
Reinhardt Kapsak, MS, RDN, IFIC President and CEO. “We tripled our
sample size this year, allowing for greater exploration of
Americans’ food beliefs and behaviors than in previous IFIC
surveys. This approach not only gives us deeper insights, but also
demonstrates our commitment to evolving our research platform to
align with America’s population trends.”
Rising Consumer
Stress & Food Cost Likely Impact Food
Decisions
It is clear to consumers
that the cost of everything has risen in recent years — including
what we eat and drink. In fact, 9 in 10 (90%) say they have noticed
an increase in the price of food and beverages. This recognition is
up significantly from 83% in 2022.
“Examining the awareness
of increased cost by generation reveals a fascinating finding: Each
generation has noticed the increased costs significantly more than
the generation(s) younger than them,” stated Kris Sollid, RD,
Senior Director, Research & Consumer Insights at IFIC. “In
other words, more Baby Boomers have noticed the rising costs
compared with every other generation. More Gen X have noticed the
rising costs compared with millennials, and so on.”
The Survey also
spotlighted how stress impacts food and beverage choices. Nearly 2
in 3 consumers reported feeling very or somewhat stressed, which is
an increase from past years. When asked about the main factors for
this stress, “managing personal finances” was the top answer at
59%, followed by “the economy in general” at 51%.
The connection between
finances and stress is clear, and the survey dug deeper into the
connection between food and emotional well-being. Interestingly, 3
in 4 consumers believe their food and beverage choices impact their
mental/emotional well-being, and 2 in 3 believe the reverse: that
their well-being impacts their food and beverage
choices.
Americans Define
Healthy Food As Fresh, Protein-Packed
& Low In
Sugar
The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration is preparing to release its updated definition for a
“healthy” packaged food. American consumers, however, judge the
healthfulness of a food using their own criteria.
For the third straight
year in the IFIC Food & Health Survey, “fresh” (39%) is the
most common criteria used by consumers to define a “healthy” food
followed by “good source of protein” (37%) and “low in sugar”
(35%). While the inclusion of “fresh” and “low in sugar” in
definitions for “healthy” have remained consistent across the last
three years, “good source of protein” is gaining steam, steadily
climbing over the past three years.
One In Three Americans
Are Familiar With Processed Foods
Terminology
There is no consensus on
the definition of “ultraprocessed foods” among food and nutrition
scientists. With headlines touting potential harmful health
effects, 1 in 3 Americans are now familiar with the term
“ultraprocessed foods,” yet there are differences by age. For
example, younger generations are more likely than older generations
to be familiar with the term “ultraprocessed foods” (39% for Gen Z
and 42% for Millennials compared with 30% for Gen X and 21% for
Boomers). And the youngest generations (Gen Z and Millennials) are
twice as likely as Baby Boomers to be familiar.
Taste
Tops The List When Its Comes
To Purchase Influence Followed By
Price & Health
American consumers
continue to rank taste (85%) as the most impactful element in their
food and beverage purchase decisions. Price remains the second most
impactful (76%), followed by healthfulness (62%), convenience
(57%), and environmental sustainability (31%).
The impact of
convenience, however, is down from last year (61% in 2023 to 57% in
2024). The impact of environmental sustainability on food and
beverage purchase decisions has also declined in each of the past
two surveys (39% in 2022, 34% in 2023, and 31% in 2024).
Overall
Confidence In The
Safety Of The U.S.
Food Supply Is
Significantly Down
Confidence in the safety
of the food supply is down from last year (62%, down from 70% in
2022). This confidence dropped most among Millennials and Hispanic
consumers.
Among multiple food
safety issues, consumers are most concerned about carcinogens in
food, foodborne illness from bacteria, and pesticides. Of those
concerned with foodborne illness, nearly all are familiar with
“best by” dates, but only 2 in 3 (67%) are familiar with what to do
when their food has been recalled.
Baby Boomers
Are The Healthiest
Skeptics Regarding Social Media
Information
In today’s increasingly
digital world, the Survey captured that exposure to food and
nutrition content on social media is increasing. “We found that
over half of consumers (54%) report seeing food and nutrition
content on their news feeds, up from 42% last year,” Sollid said.
“What’s interesting is that while consumers are seeing more of this
content, fewer Americans have a lot of trust in
it.”
And when it comes to
trust, Baby Boomers are the most skeptical. Fifty-nine percent
(59%) of Baby Boomers say they trust food or nutrition content they
come across on social media, which is significantly lower than the
trust every other generation reports (71% for Gen X, 68% for
Millennials, and 76% for Gen Z).
“The conversation around
trust in food and nutrition information is so important to analyze
and understand,” Reinhardt Kapsak said. “Ensuring consumers have
access to compelling, science-based information about food to
inform smart, healthy decisions for themselves and their families
rather than misinformation is a cause worth championing, and that
is what IFIC is all about.”
To view the full survey,
click here.
Methodology IFIC completes its annual Food and
Health Survey in partnership with Greenwald Research, a leading
independent custom research firm. IFIC commissioned Greenwald
Research to conduct the 2024 IFIC Food and Health Survey using
Dynata’s consumer panel, via an online survey of 3,000 Americans
ages 18 to 80 years between March 8 and March 24, 2024. The results
were weighted to ensure that they are reflective of the American
population ages 18 to 80 years, as seen in the 2023 Current
Population Survey. Specifically, results were weighted by age,
education, gender, race/ethnicity, and region.
About The International
Food Information Council (IFIC)
The International Food
Information Council (IFIC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational
organization with a mission to effectively communicate
science-based information about food safety, nutrition, and
sustainable food systems, serving the public good. To fulfill this
mission and demonstrate its thought leadership in action, IFIC: 1)
delivers best-in-class research and consumer insights to inform
food, nutrition, and health stakeholders; 2) promotes science
communications to positively impact consumer behavior and public
health; and 3) convenes critical thought leaders to advance the
food systems dialogue and science-based decision-making. For more
information, visit https://ific.org and our resource
hub http://foodinsight.org; Follow us
on Instagram, Facebook, X,
and LinkedIn, and sign up for our
newsletter here.
Jenny Phillips
International Food Information Council (IFIC)
585-747-8717
phillips@ific.org