Recently, there were reports of results from the survey, which show that some consumers believe that foods that are claimed for health benefits are not as natural, do not taste as good and are not as interesting as those foods that do not carry health claims.
Emilía Martinsdóttir, director of Matís, conducted a survey together with other professionals from the Nordic countries. The results of the survey were mainly that consumers tend to consider claims, for example on packaging, about health benefits not as important as information about what the substances in the product actually do for the body. Therefore, it can be understood that consumers want to know about the scientific facts of the case rather than beautiful statements about what the product does.
Example: "Product X lowers blood pressure" would not give a product manufacturer as much as saying "Product X contains substance Y which research results suggest may have a positive effect on health".
Further information can be found here and also with Emilia Martinsdóttir, emilia.martinsdottir@matis.is.