Food and You 2: Wave 7

Introduction

Food and You 2 is a biannual ‘Official Statistic’ survey commissioned by the Food Standards Agency. The survey measures consumers’ self-reported  knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to food safety and other food topics amongst adults in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Fieldwork for Food and You 2: Wave 7 was conducted between 23 April 2023 and 10 July 2023. A total of 5,812 adults (aged 16 years or over) from 4,006 households across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland completed the survey.

Topics covered in the Food and You 2: Wave 7 Key Findings report include:

• food you can trust  
• concerns about food   
• food security   
• food shopping and labelling
• online platforms
• novel foods

Findings

Food you can trust

Confidence in food safety and authenticity

• 88% of respondents reported that they were confident that the food they buy is safe to eat.
• 83% of respondents were confident that the information on food labels is accurate.

Confidence in the food supply chain

• 68% of respondents reported that they had confidence in the food supply chain.
• respondents were more likely to report confidence in farmers (84%) and shops and supermarkets (81%) than in takeaways (54%), and food delivery services (39%).

Awareness, trust and confidence in the FSA

• 89% of respondents had heard of the FSA.
• 69% of respondents who had at least some knowledge of the FSA reported that they trusted the FSA to make sure ‘food is safe and what it says it is’.
• 79% of respondents reported that they were confident that the FSA (or the government agency responsible for food safety) can be relied upon to protect the public from food-related risks (such as food poisoning or allergic reactions from food); 76% were confident that the FSA takes appropriate action if a food-related risk is identified, and 72% were confident that the FSA is committed to communicating openly with the public about food-related risks.

Concerns about food

• 72% of respondents had no concerns about the food they eat, and 28% of respondents reported that they had a concern.
• respondents who reported having a concern were asked to briefly explain what their concerns were about the food they eat. The most common concerns related to food production methods (33%), nutrition and health (30%), and the quality of food (23%). 
• respondents were asked to indicate if they had concerns about several food-related issues, from a list of options. The most common concern was food prices (72%) followed by food waste (58%), the amount of sugar in food (56%), the quality of food (56%), and the amount of food packaging (56%).

Food security 

• across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, 75% of respondents were classified as food secure (61% high, 14% marginal) and 25% of respondents were classified as food insecure (13% low, 13% very low).
• 80% of respondents reported that they had made a change to their eating habits for financial reasons in the previous 12 months. The most common changes were eating out less (49%), eating at home more (45%), eating fewer takeaways (44%) and buying items on special offer more (44%). 
• 4% of respondents reported that they had used a food bank or other emergency food provider in the last 12 months, and 94% of respondents reported that they had not.
• 5% of respondents reported that they had used a social supermarket in the last 12 months and 79% of respondents reported that they had not.

Food shopping and labelling

• 75% of respondents reported that they bought food from a large supermarket and 51% bought food from a mini supermarket about once a week or more often.
• 53% of respondents reported that they bought food from independent shops (greengrocers, butchers, bakers, fishmongers), 47% bought food from a local / corner shop, newsagent or garage forecourt, and 44% bought food from a local / farmer’s markets or farm shops 2-3 times a month or less often.
• most respondents reported that they ‘always’ or ‘most of the time’ check the use-by (85%) or best before (84%) date when they bought food. Respondents reported that they check the list of ingredients (52%), nutritional information (47%), country of origin (48%) and food assurance scheme logos (42%) about half the time or occasionally.
• 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 and 54% had ordered from an online ordering and delivery company (for example, Just Eat, Deliveroo, Uber Eats). 
• 28% of respondents had ordered via an online marketplace (for example Amazon, Gumtree, Etsy). The platforms used least by respondents were food sharing apps (for example Olio, Too Good To Go) (14%) and social media platforms (for example, Facebook, Instagram, Nextdoor) (8%). 
• 46% of respondents ‘always’ or ‘most of the time’ looked for the FHRS ratings, 31% of respondents did this about half of the time or occasionally, and 21% of respondents never looked for the FHRS rating when ordering food and drink online.
• of the respondents who have a food hypersensitivity, or live with someone who has a food hypersensitivity, 18% always looked for information that would allow them to identify food that might cause them a bad or unpleasant reaction, 41% looked for this information less often and 37% never looked for this information.

Novel foods 

• respondents reported greater awareness and knowledge of genetically modified (GM) food than gene-edited or genome-edited food (GE) and precision bred food. For example, 68% of respondents had never heard of precision bred food whereas 41% of respondents had never heard of GE food and 9% of respondents had never heard of GM food.
• 60% respondents reported that they had not used or consumed Cannabidiol (CBD) while 14% of respondents reported that they had used or consumed CBD.

Research reports

Food and You 2 Wave 7 Key Findings

Food and You 2 Wave 7 Technical report

(this document is not fully accessible, should you require an alternative format please get in touch with fsa.communications@food.gov.uk.)

Data tables

The data tables for the Wave 7 report are available in our data catalogue.