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FSA consumer survey, conducted by Ipsos, reveals most recent changes to our eating habits

Since 2020, Ipsos has been running the FSA’s flagship consumer survey, Food and You 2. Research from the survey, published today by the Food Standards Agency indicates that most people surveyed in England, Wales and Northern Ireland had made changes to their eating habits in the last year, with financial reasons given as the main cause.

The key findings from Wave 5 of Food and You 2 are outlined below. 

Confidence in food safety, authenticity and the food supply chain

  • Most respondents (91%) reported that they were confident that the food they buy is safe to eat.
  • Around three quarters of respondents (74%) reported that they had confidence in the food supply chain.   
  • 86% of respondents were confident that the information on food labels is accurate.

Concerns about food

  • 80% of respondents had no concerns about the food they eat, with 20% of respondents reporting they had a concern.
  • When prompted, the most common concerns related to food prices (66%), food waste (60%), and the amount of sugar in food (59%).

Food shopping and labelling

  • 83% of respondents reported that they bought food from a supermarket or mini supermarket about once a week or more often.
  • 51% of respondents reported that they bought food from independent shops (greengrocers, butchers, bakers, fishmongers) and 44% bought food from a local / corner shop or newsagents 2-3 times a month or less often.  
  • 83% of respondents who go food shopping and take into consideration a person who has a food allergy or intolerance were confident that the information provided on food labelling allows them to identify foods that will cause a bad or unpleasant physical reaction.

Online platforms 

  • 60% of respondents reported that they had ordered food or drink from the websites of a restaurant, takeaway or café, while 55% of respondents had ordered from an online ordering and delivery company (for example, Just Eat, Deliveroo, Uber Eats).  
  • 27% of respondents had ordered via an online marketplace (for example Amazon, Gumtree, Etsy), 10% had ordered food or drink through a food sharing app (for example Olio, Too Good To Go), and 8% had ordered via social media platforms (for example, Facebook, Instagram, Nextdoor).

Eating at home 

  • 49% of respondents reported that they always wash their hands before eating. 
  • 74% of respondents reported that they always wash their hands before preparing or cooking food.
  • 65% of respondents reported that they always check use-by dates before they cook or prepare food.

Food-related behaviours and eating habits  

  • Most respondents had made changes to their eating habits in the last 12 months. The most common changes related to what and where respondents ate, reducing food costs and increased food management behaviours. 
  • The main causes of reported changes in eating habits were financial reasons (69%), health reasons (47%), and because of COVID-19 and lockdown (41%).

Resources

Technical Note
Food and You 2 is the FSA’s biannual survey. The survey uses a 'push-to-web’ methodology in which participants are invited to take part by post and are provided with the option to complete the survey online or on paper. This methodology allows us to collect robust data using a random probability sampling approach, while allowing the survey to be run more frequently, to be more responsive to new and emerging issues, and for more people to take part.

Fieldwork for Food and You 2 Wave 5 was conducted between 26th April 2022 and 24th July 2022. A total of 6,770 adults (16 and over) from 4,727 households across England, Wales and Northern Ireland took part. 

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