Health and wellness food trends in the United Kingdom (UK) - statistics & facts
One of the leading worries associated with the consumption of food is health. What and how much a person eats can have a significant impact on their quality of life. To maintain and improve their health, consumers regularly change their diets. They cut down on ingredients and food products that are seen as unhealthy, while increasing their intake of food that seems healthy to them. In the United Kingdom, around half of survey respondents stated that they attempted to eat healthily.
Consumer concerns about food
Being able to eat healthily is on the mind of about half of UK consumers, as concern about healthy eating still ranks fairly low among their food-related worries. Several other concerns, such as food prices, rank higher. Consumers also look out for food hygiene when eating out, overall food quality, and possible food poisoning. Many of them also keep a close eye on how much sugar and salt is in their food. To navigate these issues, consumers often rely on food label systems, paying particular attention to claims such as low or no added sugar when shopping. The ongoing cost-of-living pressures have added to these concerns: over a third of UK shoppers now say they are cutting food waste at home to save money, while others have switched to own-brand groceries instead of giving up on healthier choices.
Hyper-processed food
Recently, ultra-processed food or hyper-processed food has been a hot topic in the U.S. and the UK. Hyper-processed food products contain a high number of ingredients. They are made with additives that are almost exclusively used in industrial-scale food production. These might encompass sweeteners, preservatives, artificial aromas, artificial colors, and others. Additionally, the food products are processed multiple times. Processes include grinding, milling, extruding, and others. Hyper-processed foods typically contain high levels of ingredients that are already viewed as undesirable by consumers, such as salt, sugar, and saturated fats. The high degree of processing allows the digestion to pick up more of these ingredients than from less processed foods. Nowadays, concern about the health impact of ultra-processed food runs even higher, with around eight in ten UK consumers saying they worry about it, and many say they have cut back on such products as a result. Convenience still wins out for some: around three in ten UK shoppers say ready-made food offers good value, and some prefer it to cooking from scratch. Others try to avoid heavily processed products by buying organic instead, though over a third say the cost of organic food keeps them from buying more. As sugar, salt, and processed ingredients stay in the spotlight, these worries keep shaping how people in the UK eat and shop.
