Dettol is Australiaʼs most trusted brand and Bunnings was named Australia’s most trusted icon in a study that found health and chocolate brands generate the greatest trust.

Brands that are perceived as good for our health, like Band-Aid and Panadol, or that make us feel better, cue chocolate brands Cadbury and Lindt, dominated the top 10 of Readerʼs Digest‘s Most Trusted Brands 2012 study.

Breakfast food brands Uncle Toby’s and Kellogg’s, oral hygiene market leader Colgate and health brands Betadine and Elastoplast also featured in the top 10.

“In uncertain times, itʼs the brands which continue to offer quality and substance that hold our trust,” notes Australian Readerʼs Digest editor, Sue Carney. “They have a long history of being steadfast and safe, which makes them a hot property in modern day Australia.”

Readerʼs Digest‘s study, conducted by Catalyst Research among a nationally representative sample of more than 2400 Australians, also broke down trust in brands across a range of fast-moving consumer goods and other strongly brand driven categories.

Bunnings topped the ʻAustralian Iconʼ category, edging out Vegemite and Dick Smith, and also outperformed Big W and Target in the non-supermarket retail category. Woolworths came out on top of arch-nemesis Coles as the most trusted supermarket, while Sony edged out rivals Panasonic and Samsung as the most trusted TV and home entertainment brand.

The Commonwealth Bank emerged as the most trusted bank ahead of ING Direct and Bendigo Bank. Dove performed well across multiple categories, while Toyota topped car brands, Dyson was most trusted among vacuum cleaners, Pedigree was favoured for feeding pets and Breville took top honours in the kitchen.

The study was conducted in January 2012, with an initial qualitative phase conducted to develop a list of brands to prompt respondents and eliminate the tendency for brands that may be top of mind due to recent marketing pushes being favoured in the results.