The consumption trend survey conducted by the Japan Finance Corporation found that 80 percent of the Japanese consumers do not trust processed food. The fact that most of them are processed overseas is considered to be behind this strong feeling of distrust. This survey result suggests again that the crucial issue for agricultural policies is to accommodate the needs of consumers by shifting ingredients of processed food from imported products to domestic ones.
The survey, which is to be conducted twice a year, was executed from July 1 to 8, to 2,000 people in Japan (from their 20s to 70s; both males and females, 1,000 respondents respectively). It was revealed after this survey that the expired chicken meat was used in the processed food the Japanese companies imported from the Chinese company, which seems to be increasing even more the anxiety over processed food.
Asked if you feel uneasy about processed food or not, about 70 percent of the respondents answered “I feel somewhat uneasy” and about 9 percent answered “quite uneasy,” which led to the conclusion that 80 percent of the respondents feel uneasy altogether.
These 80 percent of the respondents were asked what kind of information they need on the label to solve their uneasiness. The largest number of respondents answered “food additives” (55 percent), followed by “genetic modification” (37 percent) and “places and countries of origin” (36 percent). It is apparent that they tend to feel uneasy over processed food because a lot of food is processed in other countries or imported products are used as ingredients as well as it’s hard for us to see their manufacturing processes.
Moreover, asked if you check the information on each product other than its price when you buy processed food, the respondents answered “I check it carefully every time” (14 percent), “I check only the necessary information every time” (36 percent), and “I sometimes check it” (31 percent). It was found that 80 percent of the respondents have an interest in the information on the label.
These 80 percent of respondents were asked what kind of information they mainly check. “Expiration or freshness date” (about 60 percent), “land and countriy of origin” (about 35 percent) and “ingredients” (about 28 percent) topped the list of the answers.
(Sept. 22, 2014)