Eight in 10 shoppers say food is over-packaged

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It found almost 80 per cent of London shoppers now believe supermarkets use too much packaging on their food items.

Seventy per cent said they tried to buy products with minimal packaging and 80 per cent felt some foods did not need any at all.

The increasing environmental concerns of shoppers have prompted stores to redesign packaging and so improve their green credentials.

These include big names such as Tesco, which recently reduced readymeal packaging by 35 per cent, and specialist producers such as the Serious Food Company, which sells puddings in reusable ceramic dishes.

A spokesman for Mintel, which carried out the survey, said: " Retailers are coming under increasing pressure to step up and introduce eco-friendly packaging. It is no longer enough for a pack to look good, it has to be gentle on the environment as well."

The survey found 77 per cent of Londoners recycle some or all of their supermarket packaging. However-London still sends 3.4 million tonnes of waste a year to landfill - almost 60 per cent of it outside the capital - at a cost of £24 per tonne. Some experts forecast this could rise to almost 23 million tonnes by 2020.

Luke Vincent of Dragon, a brand agency that advises companies on package design, said: "These findings are no surprise to me.

"There has been a shift in people's values. They are becoming increasingly aware of environmental issues and with that comes guilt.

"Customers expect retailers and manufacturers to make it easier for them to do the right thing when they go shopping. We want to go back to going shopping and not feeling guilty. Packaging is not always the most significant issue when it comes to a product's green credentials, but it is very visible and tangible, which is why it has become so important to customers and retailers.

"For manufacturers, being green is a prerequisite for being accepted in the market. Environmentally friendly packaging shows a company is relevant, modern and of good quality."