A new study has revealed that shoppers in the UK are increasingly concerned about the carbon footprint of the food that they buy, with the majority of those interviewed calling for carbon labels to be placed on all food.
According to the report, which was put together by Northumbria University, 72 per cent of consumers interviewed were in favour of carbon labelling, which they said would encourage them to think about the environmental impact of their food choices.
While taste and quality were still important factors when making purchasing choices, 68 per cent of shoppers said that their purchasing behaviour had changed over the past decade, with free range and Fairtrade food coming into consideration.
However, 83 per cent of shoppers admitted that they did not know their own carbon footprint, according to the university report.
'Overall the dominant theme arising from this research is that consumers would generally like carbon labels on their food products,' said Zaina Gadema, management researcher at Newcastle Business School. 'However, because there is little understanding or knowledge surrounding such information, as well as little in terms of availability of products with carbon footprints, it is difficult for consumers to compare environmental standards via carbon labels even though the majority of respondents think labels would help to do so.'
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