Toluna research company survey shows people in the UK are transitioning to plant-based foods!

Nutritionists and specialist doctors and researchers are advising people to diminish animal foods and go for more of plant- based foods.

How successful have been these advices? A recent survey by Toluna company revealed that an increasing trend is towards plant origin foods. This is healthy.

Toluna company research

A healthy advice from experts in the field of nutrition is to consume more of plant origin foods. They want people to adopt healthier lifestyle by consuming less of foods of animal origin.

This would be good for their heart and body and also for the environment. Animal and livestock require land and add to the greenhouse gases such as methane. These are detrimental and responsible for climate change.

But how well are people heeding to this advice? Has there been any nutrition transition based on these recommendations in eating? Toluna is a research company and it recently conducted a study to estimate whether people are changing their diet for good of all. What were the findings of this study?

The research details

Toluna performed this survey on 1160 adults in the UK. All were above 18 years of age. They interviewed them on their food preferences and choices.

The company wanted to evaluate the latest food trends. They wished to know whether any significant changes have taken place in dietary habits of people over the years.

And the study showed that nearly 50% of the adults surveyed expressed their desire to go for healthier plant based options in place of animal origin foods.

This implies the success of various campaigns in that direction. People also stated that they want their food to be sustainable and save the environment besides providing them with the required nutrition.

50% of the interviewees either started to cut or continued to cut meat based foods in their diet. In 2019, 83% people had said that they consume meat foods.

And in 2022, this had dropped to 78%. One in 14 adults surveyed wanted to become a vegan. And 12% of them preferred to become vegetarian.

Taste and flavor of foods

The adults surveyed were opting for plant products. But they wanted the taste of them to be similar to that of meat. It also included other products such as steak, cakes, cheese, egg, fish, and also chocolates.

57% believed plant foods were healthy. But 10% felt that they lacked health benefits. The reasons cited were that they had less nutrients, were heavily processed, or had additives in them.

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57% treated themselves and indulged intermittently. Majority preferred mango flavor followed by passion fruit, wild cherry, banana, and cherry blossom flavors.

But less popular flavors such as that of yuzu fruit or mangosteen are also picking up. Magda Jablkowska-Citko, research director at Toluna said:

“Diet trends in the UK are continuing to evolve, and now is the time for food and drink brands to capitalise on the opportunities this presents to provide products tailored to consumer preferences. Those brands that can appeal to consumers’ curiosities with more variety, flavours, and even textures, are likely to experience the most success.”