CONSUMER ATTITUDES AND MARKET POTENTIAL FOR DAIRY-PRODUCTS UTILIZING FAT SUBSTITUTES

Concern about the impact of diet on health has led consumers to reduce the consumption of foods perceived as being high in fat. This study quantifies consumer concern about dietary fat, identifies foods perceived as being high in fat, and explores attitudes toward, and interest in, purchasing dairy foods in which the fat has been reduced by a fat substitute. Consumer attitudes assessed in focus groups were quantified in a mail survey of 2000 California households (1667 deliverable questionnaires) with a 53% return rate (897 returned). Taste, safety, and nutrition were most important in food selection. Seventy-eight percent of respondents avoided some foods because of nutrient content. Nutritive factors considered most important were total fat content, cholesterol, and saturated:unsaturated fats. Although only about one-third of the population had heard of the fat substitute, Simplesse(R), about 60% thought foods containing this fat substitute would be healthier than traditional products. People were unsure of the safety of fat substitutes; food safety and nutritional advice from the American Medical Association and nutrition experts was considered to be most credible. About half of the consumers were ready to try reduced-fat products and willing to pay a little extra for them. They indicated that, if they liked the taste, they would eat more lower fat products made with fat replacers than traditionally made products.