EU consumers grow confident in healthy eating but distrust food information, study finds
Key takeaways
- A new EIT Food survey reveals European consumer confidence in choosing food is rising, yet fewer than half view food information as reliable.
- EU shoppers feel significantly more knowledgeable and confident judging the healthiness of their food than they do evaluating its sustainability.
- Trust in traditional sources across the food supply chain is falling, with even farmers, manufacturers, and medical professionals losing credibility.
European consumers are becoming more confident in their healthy and sustainable food choices, despite many remaining skeptical about the information surrounding products, according to new research from the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Food Consumer Observatory.
Findings reveal that Europeans feel “significantly” more confident navigating health than sustainability, emphasizing how the outlook changes depending on the context.
Published today on the International Day for Universal Access to Information, the report is based on responses from around 20,000 consumers across 18 European countries.
It reveals how confident European consumers feel about their food choices, what they believe they know about healthy and sustainable diets, how well they feel able to distinguish reliable information, and which sources they trust for guidance.
“Consumers do not appear to be asking simply for more information. They need information they can understand, assess, and trust,” says Klaus G. Grunert, professor of Marketing at Aarhus University, Denmark, and lead of the EIT Food Consumer Observatory.
“The findings show that confidence in our own choices can grow even while confidence in the information environment remains fragile — addressing these gaps will require clearer, evidence-based, and coordinated communication on food, particularly around sustainability, where consumers report the greatest uncertainty.”
Between confidence and information
Reflecting a global pushback against ultra-processed foods, consumer demands in Europe prioritize transparency, health, and naturality. With a growing interest in knowing what goes into their food, regional consumers increasingly seek items made from recognizable, simple, and minimally processed ingredients.
A significant finding in the EIT Food Consumer Observatory report is the growing gap between consumer decisions and their confidence in the information they have access to.
The analysis reveals that the share of Europeans who feel able to make good food choices rose from 60% in 2024 to 66% in 2025.
Statistics show that consumers are becoming more confident in their ability to differentiate reliable from unreliable information, while 53% believe they know where to find sources they can trust.
However, it says that fewer than half of shoppers consider food information itself reliable.
Providing more context, nearly three-quarters (72%) of survey respondents feel their knowledge of healthy diets is sufficient, while 62% claim they can judge how healthy a food is. For sustainability, those figures fall to 52% and 47%, respectively.
Age demographics
Age adds another layer to shoppers’ perceptions. Results show that consumers above the age of 55 are the most confident in their food choices, while 70% feel positive about the choices they make, compared to 62% of consumers under 35.
Results show that consumers above the age of 55 are the most confident in their food choices, while 70% feel positive about these decisions, compared to 62% of consumers under 35.However, older consumers are less confident when it comes specifically to sustainability: less than half of those above 55 feel sufficiently knowledgeable about the sustainability of food.
“Trust in the wider food system appears closely linked to how informed people feel,” observe the report authors. “Among consumers with low trust, only 37% feel able to determine the sustainability of food, compared with 65% among consumers with higher trust.”
These findings ultimately suggest that access to information alone may not be enough if consumers lack confidence in the brands and institutions providing it.
Where trust lies
EIT Food Consumer Observatory says that the challenge extends to the organizations across the food system that consumers encounter.
Survey data reveals that even farmers — whom the study says are widely considered some of the most trusted actors in the food chain — are not widely regarded as reliable sources of health and sustainability information.
Trust in farmers as an information source fell from 49% in 2024 to 46% in 2025, while manufacturers declined from 41% to 39%, according to the paper. Fewer than one-third of consumers consider retailers, public authorities, restaurants, and caterers reliable sources of guidance on these matters.
Consumers are instead placing greater confidence in doctors, health practitioners, scientists, and academics. But even here, the results show that trust in these sources is declining too.
“Traditional and online media face greater skepticism, while online influencers are among the least trusted sources,” highlights EIT Food Consumer Observatory.
The new report, “Who do consumers believe?,” is the fourth and final chapter of the EIT Food Consumer Observatory’s 2026 Trust Report Series.
