Food Concerns Omnibus Survey

The Food Standards Agency asked COI Communications to commission some research about attitudes towards buying food and food concerns among the public.

A series of questions was placed on Taylor Nelson Sofres telephone omnibus survey conducted on the 15th and 16th of September 2001. The total sample of 1003 interviews was achieved with the general public in Great Britain. Various breakdowns were obtained including age, gender, social grade and TV region.

Q.1 Thinking about food/grocery shopping, what would you say are the most important factors that influence the food you buy? (Unprompted)

	Total
Base: All adults	1003 %
Price	46
Taste	18
Quality	17
You and your family's health	12
Production method - organic, free range	10
Appearance	7
Freshness	7
Healthy/ nutritional value	6
Brand name	5
Food Safety Concerns	4
Convenience / Availability	3
Country of origin	3
Environmental concerns	2
Locally produced food	2
What the family like	1
Conditions in which animals are raised	1
Seasonal Choices	1
Other	11

When asked to spontaneously mention the most important factors which affect food/grocery purchasing, just under half of adults (46%) in GB cite price as the main influence on the food they buy. This was consistent across all social class groups and was particularly key for people aged 35-44 (57%).

The next most influential factors were taste (18%) and quality (17%) but these were at far lower levels than price.

Other factors mentioned by at least 10% were, "health of myself and family" (12%) and "production methods" by 10%.

"Food safety concerns" was mentioned spontaneously by only 4% and country of origin was also low in the list of factors

Q.2 How important is?

Respondents were asked to rate a series of factors on an importance scale.

The table below shows the rank order of factors rated as very/quite important

Base: All Adults Very/quite important	1003
	%
You and your family's health	98
Taste	97
Food Safety concerns	93
Conditions in which animals are raised	88
Environmental concerns	88
Price	82
Appearance	78
Locally produced food	65
Production method	62
Seasonal choices	56
Country of Origin	52
Brand Name	41

Almost everyone rated "health of myself and family" as very/quite important. Interestingly, factors that were hardly mentioned spontaneously, were considered very important when asked about directly, e.g.

- food safety concerns
- conditions in which animals are raised
- environmental concerns

There was a distinction between those factors that people considered 'very important', and those that were thought to be 'quite important'.

'Very important' issues are those listed in the above paragraph, plus 'taste'.

'Quite important' issues are those such as price, locally produced foods, production methods and seasonal choices.

'Country of origin' and 'brand name' were the least important factors.

Q.3 In your opinion, how much choice do you feel you have when buying food/groceries?

	Total
Base: All adults	1003 %
Too much	23
About right	63
Too little	12
More organic food	2
More fruit and vegetables	2
Wide variety	2
Home-grown food	1
Information on the food itself	1
Healthy food	1
Other	2

Almost two thirds of adults (63%) felt there was about the right amount of choice when buying food/groceries. Almost one in four felt there was too much choice. Only 12% felt there was too little choice.

The types of food mentioned that people would like to see more of are listed in the table above - 2% of all adults mentioned more organic food and 2% mentioned more fruit and vegetables.

Q.4a How concerned are you about the way in which food is produced nowadays?

	Total
Base: All adults	1003%
Very concerned	32
Fairly concerned	45
Very/Fairly	77
Neither	7
Not very concerned	12
Not at all concerned	3
Not very / not at all	15

The majority of the sample said they were very or fairly concerned about the way in which food is produced (77%). Nearly a third said they were 'very concerned'. Women were more likely than men to say they were concerned (85% of women, compared to 67% of men said they were very or fairly concerned).

Older respondents were also more likely to be concerned about food production. Forty two percent of respondents aged 45+ said they were very or quite concerned, compared to just 22% of 16-44.

Respondents in the higher social grades were more concerned than those in the lower social grades (83% of ABs said they were very or fairly concerned compared to 73% of DEs).

Q.4b What are you concerned about?

	Total
Base: All very or fairly concerned about food production	768%
How animals are treated and raised	23
Chemicals/ Preservatives	18
Genetically modified foods	11
Cleanliness / Hygiene	10
Mass production / should be free range	8
BSE / Mad cow disease	6
Food production / production methods	4
Food preparation / way food is wrapped	2
Environmental issues	2
Safety / safe product	2
Other	25

The ways in which animals are treated and raised was mentioned by 23% of the respondents who said they were very or fairly concerned about food production. Eighteen percent said they were concerned about chemicals/preservatives, 11% mentioned genetically modified foods, and 10% mentioned cleanliness/hygiene.

Sixteen percent of men, but 27% of women said they were concerned about how animals are treated and raised.

Q.5 How important is it to you when you buy meat that it is produced in the UK?

	Total
Base: All adults	1003 %
Very important	40
Fairly important	27
Very/ Fairly	66
Neither	7
Not very important	16
Not at all important	8
Not at all / Not very	24

About two fifths of adults (40%) claim it is "very important" for them to buy meat produced in UK and a further 27% claim it is "fairly important". Therefore overall, two thirds feel it is important to buy UK produced meat with 24% claiming that is it not important.

Various sub groups place more importance on this issue than others:

(percentages shown are for "very important")

- women more so than men (44% vs 34%)

- older people aged over 65 more so than 35-44s (58% vs 29%)

- DE s more so than ABs (44% vs 36%)

Q.6 How important is it to you when you buy food and other grocery items that they are produced in the UK?

	Total
Base: All adults	1003%
Very important	25
Fairly important	34
Very/ Fairly	59
Neither	10
Not very important	22
Not at all important	7
Not at all / Not very	30

People consider it less important that their food and groceries are produced in the UK compared to meat products. However, nearly three fifths of respondents believed it very or fairly important.

Again, the oldest respondents were the most likely to consider it important, with 41% of those aged 65+ thinking it was very important (compared to an average of 25%).

Respondents in the DE social grade also considered it particularly important - 34% thought it was very important.

Q.7 Are there any types of food that you would like to buy, but do not because they are too expensive?

	Total
Base: All adults	1003 %
No	73
Yes	24
Organic foods	4
Fresh fruit	3
Steak	3
Seafood / fish	3
Meat	2
Fresh vegetables	2
Salmon	1
Beef	1
Lamb	1
Caviar	1
Lobster	1
Other	4

Almost three quarters of adults (73%) claim there are no types of food that they find too expensive to buy. However, one in four claim (24%) that they would like to buy some types of food that they currently find too expensive. When asked what type of food they would like to buy the response is wide ranging with several people mentioning luxury items. Organic food is mentioned by 4% of all adults.

Q.9 How confident are you about current food safety measures?

	Total
Base: All adults	1003 %
Very confident	11
Fairly confident	55
Very/ Fairly	66
Neither	7
Not very confident	20
Not at all confident	4
Not at all / Not very	25

Although the majority of respondents had said they were concerned about food production, two thirds of respondents said they are very or fairly confident with current food safety measures (66%)

The older respondents were generally less confident than the younger respondents - 30% of those aged 45+ said they were not very or not at all confident compared to 20% of 16-44 year olds.

Respondents in the AB social grade were the least confident - almost a third said they were not very or not at all confident (32% compared to an average of 25%).

Q.10 Which food (s) do you no longer eat nowadays because of food safety concerns?

	Total
Base: All adults	1003 %
None	56
Any	40
Beef	23
Lamb	8
Pork	7
Processed meat/ poultry	6
Other meat/ poultry	5
Chicken	4
Eggs	3
Fish	1
Dairy	1
Ready made meals	1
Food with GM ingredients	1
Milk	1

Over half the respondents said they had not stopped eating any foods nowadays because of food safety concerns (56%). However, two fifths said they had stopped eating some foods (40%). Women were more likely to have stopped eating certain foods than men - with 30% of men but 49% of women saying they no longer ate certain foods.

Nearly a quarter of respondents said they no longer ate beef due to safety concerns - (30% of women and 17% of men said this). Lamb was mentioned by 8% of respondents, and pork by 7%.

Q.11 Where do you currently buy your food/groceries from?

	Total
	1003 %
Supermarket	95
Local shop	36
Farmers market	13
Market stalls	17
Via the internet/ mail order /website	2

The majority of respondents buy their food and groceries from supermarkets (95%) - over a third said they bought food from their local shop (36%).

Only 17% bought their food from market stalls, and 13% from a farmers market. Just 2% ordered their food via the internet or through mail order.

Q.12 Where else would you like to buy your food/groceries from?

	Total
	%
Supermarket	2 (98)
Local shop	27 (63)
Farmers market	22 (35)
Market stalls	19 (36)
Via the internet/ mail order /website	8 (10)

(Figures in brackets are total 'where currently buy + where would like to buy')

Respondents were asked where else they would like to buy their food and groceries from. Overall 2% of respondents that didn't already buy their food from a supermarket would like to do so (in total nearly all respondents - 98% - said they would like to, or already do, buy their food and groceries in a supermarket).

Twenty seven percent of respondents who didn't already shop at a local shop, said they would like to (making this the second most popular choice, 63% of those interviewed said they would like to, or already do, buy their food and groceries from a local shop).

Farmers markets and market stalls were also chosen by around a fifth of respondents as places where they would like to buy their food from (if they don't already).

Only 8% of respondents said they would like to buy their food via the internet or through mail order (but don't already).

Q.13 How easy or difficult is it for you to buy the foods you need to eat a healthy diet?

	Total
	1003 %
Very easy	46
Fairly easy	42
Fairly difficult	8
Very difficult	3

Over half the respondents believe that it is very or fairly easy to buy the foods they need to eat a healthy diet.

Female respondents were more likely than men to say they found it 'fairly' or 'very' difficult to buy they foods they need for a healthy diet (12% and 9% respectively). Overall, younger respondents were more likely than older respondents to say they found it difficult (12% of 16-34 year olds said they found it 'fairly' or 'very' difficult to buy the foods they needed, compared to 8% of those aged 55+).

There was very little difference between respondents in different social grades.

(It should be noted that not all respondents are necessarily trying to eat a healthy diet, and therefore this question would not apply to all).