Sugar Survey: Hershey's Chocolate Named Most Popular Treat

It’s Sugar Awareness Week, which means it’s a time for people to take a look at their sugar eating habits and evaluate the benefits of eating sugar or other types of sweeteners and alternatives. So how many people enjoy eating sugary foods regularly? And what do they think about the health impact of eating it as opposed to other types of sweeteners?

Sugary Foods

In Ask Your Target Market’s latest survey, 39% of respondents said they have a generally positive opinion of sugary foods. 31% don’t really like them. And 29% were neutral or had no opinion. Overall, just 6% of respondents said they eat food items that are high in sugar multiple times per day. 17% eat them about once a day. 37% said they eat sugary foods a few times per week. 14% eat them about once per week. 13% eat them a few times per month. Another 13% said that they rarely ever eat sugary foods. And just 1% never eat them.

Popular Brands

Chocolate was named as the most popular category for sugary foods. Respondents also named cookies, cake, ice cream, candy and donuts as favorites. When it comes to brands, Hershey’s was the stand out favorite brand for sweets. Hostess, Little Debbie, Keebler, Betty Crocker, Oreo, Ben and Jerry’s and Nestle were also named as popular brands.

Sugar Alternatives

However, there are also plenty of alternatives out there for people trying to lower their sugar intake. 39% said they don’t ever use any sugar alternatives. 36% use honey. 21% use natural sweeteners like Stevia. 19% use artificial sweeteners. 7% have used high fructose corn syrup. And 4% have used other alternatives like agave or maple syrup.Overall, 60% of respondents agreed that sugar can be healthy enough when used in moderation. 56% think that sugar can be healthier than a lot of the alternative options out there. And 63% agree that sugary foods taste better than those with alternative sweeteners. You can view the complete survey results in the widget below and be sure to click “Open Full Report” to take advantage of all the chart and filter options.Photo Credit: Sugar from FlickrWhat do you want to know? If you need some consumer insights on a particular topic, let us know in the comments below and we’ll consider it for an upcoming survey post.

Results were collected on January 19 via AYTM’s online survey panel.