Taking a bite

Abstract

This article states that food marketers are embracing interactive marketing and responding to consumers' interest in healthy eating with nutritional information and interactive tools on their Web sites. The Web is one of the first places consumers go when they are concerned about food health and safety, as is recognized by the British Food Standards Agency (FSA). It relaunched its site in December 2001 which runs to over 20,000 pages. It has launched a spin-off site to support its Sid the Slug campaign to reduce salt consumption and plans a purely consumer site for 2004. David Payne, Web site editor at the FSA, explains that one of the primary objectives for the site was to help reduce the levels of food poisoning in Great Britain. Focus groups had revealed that the public expected a dull and worthy site. To counter this, an editorial team was recruited to provide lively and accessible content. Therefore, other features include games and the opportunity to consult an FSA nutritionist online. The site's most popular interactive feature is a body mass index calculator, which is used by other public bodies on their sites. The FSA has largely succeeded in its aim to create a site that is not alienating or overwhelming. According to the FSA 2003 survey, 78 percent of consumers claimed to check food labels and just over half are at least fairly concerned about the accuracy of health claims made for food. As consumers increasingly turn to the Internet for research, food marketers are responding by listing their ingredients online. In many ways this is a simple repurposing of information that would normally be carried on packaging. INSETS: QUICK TAKE;WEIGHT WATCHERS: NIBBLING AT INTERACTIVITY.