Report from second wave of Food and You 2 survey published

Since 2020, Ipsos has been running the FSA’s new flagship survey, Food and You 2.

The Food and You 2 survey, which includes data from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, is used to collect information on the public’s self-reported knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours regarding food safety and other food-related issues.

Key findings

Confidence in food safety, authenticity, and the supply chain 

  • More than 9 in 10 (93%) respondents were confident that the food they buy is safe to eat and almost 9 in 10 (89%) were confident that the information on food labels is accurate. 
  • Over three quarters of respondents (77%) had confidence in the food supply chain. 

Concerns about food 

  • Most respondents (88%) had no concerns about the food they eat, and only 12% of respondents reported that they had a concern. 
  • The most common prompted concerns were the amount of sugar in food (60%), food waste (60%) and animal welfare (57%). 

Food security 

  • Food security levels were comparable across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Over three quarters of respondents were food secure in England (85%), Wales (82%) and Northern Ireland (84%) whilst approximately 1 in 6 were food insecure in England (15%), Wales (18%) and Northern Ireland (16%). 

Eating out and takeaways 

  • Three fifths (60%) of respondents had eaten food which was ordered from a takeaway either ordered directly or via an online delivery company (e.g Just Eat, Deliveroo, Uber Eats) in the previous 4 weeks. 
  • Most respondents (87%) had heard of the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS). Of those, 51% had checked the Food Hygiene Rating of a food business in the last 12 months. 

Food allergy, intolerance, and other hypersensitivities 

  • Fewer than 1 in 10 (9%) respondents reported that they had a food intolerance, 3% had a food allergy, 1% had coeliac disease and 1% had multiple food hypersensitivities. 
  • Of the respondents who reported having a food allergy, 35% reported having an allergy to fruit, 19% reported an allergy to crustaceans, and 19% reported an allergy to peanuts. 
  • Of the respondents who reported having a food intolerance, 38% reported an intolerance to cow’s milk and products made with cow’s milk and 18% reported an intolerance to cereals containing gluten. 
  • Respondents who suffer from adverse reactions to food were more likely to report confidence in the allergen information provided by restaurants (82%), cafés, coffee or sandwich shops (79%), and pubs or bars (75%) compared to information provided by takeaways when ordering directly from a takeaway shop or restaurant (63%) or when ordering through an online ordering and delivery company (e.g. JustEat, Deliveroo, UberEats) (50%), food-sharing apps (e.g. Olio or Too Good To Go) (23%) or Facebook Marketplace (21%) 

Eating at home 

  • More than 6 in 10 (62%) respondents reported that they always check use-by dates before they cook or prepare food. 
  • Most respondents reported that they never ate smoked fish (81%), milk (68%), cooked meats (66%), bagged salads (53%) or cheese (52%) past the use-by date. 

Technical Note

Food and You 2 is the FSA’s biannual flagship 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 2 was conducted between November 2020 and January 2021. A total of 5,900 adults (16 and over) from 3,955 households across England, Wales and Northern Ireland completed the survey. 

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