The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has published the results of its 'Consumer Attitudes to Food Standards' survey 2006. Key findings include the following:

• The amount of salt in food is a concern for 54% of respondents, the amount of fat worries 46% and the amount of sugar concerns 43% of those polled. Only 12% of consumers say healthy eating is not a concern for them.
• Food safety is less of a concern than healthy eating, but concerns about hygiene are highest in relation to takeaway food, fast food, restaurants and cafés.
• The majority of respondents use supermarkets for most of their food shopping, but small, local grocery retailers and independents are important for 'top-up' shopping.
• Some 39% of respondents avoid certain foods because of allergies, intolerances, religious reasons or personal preferences such as vegetarianism.
• Two-fifths of respondents find food labels difficult to read, and a third think labels are hard to understand.
• Nearly half of respondents are trying to increase their consumption of fresh fruit, and 40% claim fresh fruit is their most popular choice of snack.

The full report can be downloaded from the FSA's website, which also features a summary of the headline findings.