Consumer preferences for low-salt foods: a Danish case study based on a comprehensive supermarket intervention.

Objective: The objective is to analyse Danish consumers' attitudes to buying food with reduced salt content.

Design: The study is based on a comprehensive store intervention that included 114 stores belonging to the same supermarket chain. Three different salt claims were tested for 8 weeks on six test products within the categories bread, cornflakes and frozen pizzas. Scanner data were supplemented with 134 brief interviews with consumers in nine selected stores.

Setting: Stores spread across Denmark.

Participants: Consumers who buy food in the stores.

Results: Statistical regression analyses of the scanner data indicated that none of the three claims significantly affected demand for any of the test products. The interviews confirmed that many consumers were more focused on other elements of the official dietary advice than reduced salt consumption, such as eating plenty of vegetables, choosing products with whole grains and reducing their intake of sugar and fat.

Conclusions: Overall, both the scanner data and the interviews pointed in the same direction, towards the conclusion that salt content is often a secondary factor when Danish consumers make dietary choices.