According to the IFIC, while taste and price are consistent top factors in the impact of consumer purchases, “healthfulness in 2014 almost entirely closed the gap with price, rising from 61 percent of consumers in 2012 to 71 percent this year, a 10 percentage-point increase.”

Healthfulness increased among all surveyed groups, but was particular significant with younger consumers and men.

Four out of five consumers said they tried to eat more fruits and vegetables either within the past year or for more than a year. Seventy-nine percent said they have cut calories by drinking water or low- and no-calorie beverages. Seventy-two percent are eating more whole grains. In addition, four in five reported that they are trying either to lose or maintain weight.

This year’s survey also tried to assess the level emotions play during conversations about food.

According to the IFIC, it was suggested there was a growing intensity of negative emotional conversations about food and food production both online and in the media.

However, fewer than one in four survey respondents said they had an emotional conversation about food in the past six months.

“Our data show the vast majority of consumers are not swayed by the rhetoric,” said David B. Schmidt, president and CEO of the IFIC Foundation. “Most consumers are making health a conscious decision and trust those experts and organizations with the most authoritative training and expertise.”

The entire survey report can be found here.