Only 1 in 10 Britons check all the nutritional information on the food they buy

Just one in ten British consumers check all the nutritional information on food packaging, a survey has revealed.

The poll by YouGov found that Britons are a bit too relaxed when it comes to what they put into their bodies.

It discovered that only 11% of people check all five pieces of nutritional information in the ‘traffic light’ system found on food packaging.

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The voluntary traffic light scheme was introduced by the Department of Health in 2013 and is now widespread on food items.

It shows the calorie, fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt content of the item – but only one in ten Britons are checking all five categories before buying.

YouGov found that most people check some of the information but don’t bother reading all five.

Almost three quarters of those surveyed (72%) check at least one of the five main nutritional values on food packaging.

But nearly one in four (23%) don’t check any of the nutritional guidelines.

Of the five values, sugar is the one Britons check the most – 51% say they pay attention to how much sweet stuff is in their food.

The calorie count is the second most popular thing to be scrutinised (40%), followed by fat (38%), saturated fat (36%) and salt (36%).

A further 8% of people check other nutritional values on food, such as fibre and protein, that are not included in the traffic light system.

YouGov found that men check nutritional value less than women. Three in ten men say they never look at the nutritional information on food packaging compared to one in six women.