Meat consumption, definition of meat and trust in information sources in the UK population and members of The Vegetarian Society

A sample of UK residents and members of The Vegetarian Society (TVS) were questioned by postal survey on their consumption of and attitudes towards meat. The related issue of trust in sources for meat‐related information was also addressed. Over 15% of the general population (GP) sample classified themselves as “demi” vegetarians; 28% reported that they were currently reducing meat consumption. However, the demi‐vegetarians consumed a wide variety of meats on a regular basis and a number of those “reducing” (that is, who said they were “reducing the amount of meat that they ate") had increased consumption of chicken and fish over the preceding year. The two populations were found to differ when asked to categorize a number of animal‐derived foods as either meat or non‐meat; members of TVS considered the majority of these foods to be meat whereas a clear hierarchy was evident in the GP sample categorisation. This ambiguity was considered to explain the lack of reduction in estimated meat consumption which would be predicted by recent surveys.

Members of TVS had stronger attitude evaluations when compared to those of the GP sample on ethical, risk and health issues, although both samples were concerned about foods seen as cholesterol‐elevating and the convenience of foods. Food package labels provided an influential source of meat‐related information, as they are well used and moderately trusted by respondents from both samples.

Key words:

• vegetarian
• meat
• attitudes
• credibility
• perceptions
• United Kingdom