Food and You 2 trends: Chapter 2: Concerns about food

Introduction

The FSA’s role, set out in law, is to safeguard public health and protect the interests of consumers in relation to food. The FSA uses the Food and You 2 survey to monitor consumers’ concerns about food issues, such as food safety, nutrition, and environmental issues.  

This chapter provides an overview of respondents’ concerns about food between Wave 1 (July 2020 to October 2020) and Wave 8 (October 2023 to January 2024).

Common concerns

Respondents were asked to indicate if they had concerns about several food-related issues, from a list of options. Between Wave 1 and Wave 8 the most common concerns have varied. 

Between Wave 1 and Wave 4 the most common concerns were food waste (58%-61%), the amount of sugar in food (59%-60%) and animal welfare (55%-57%). Since Wave 4 (October 2021 to January 2022), there has been a notable increase in the percentage of respondents concerned around food prices, with this becoming the most prevalent concern since Wave 5 (April 2022 to July 2022) ^{(footnote 1)}. 

Over the past four waves (Waves 5-8), the top concerns for consumers have consistently been food prices (65%-68%), food waste (58%-63%) and the quality of food (56%-61%) ^{(footnote 2)} (Figure 7).

Food and You 2: Wave 1-8

Other notable changes in consumer concerns between Wave 1 and Wave 8 include an increase in the percentage of respondents concerned about food poisoning (from 38% in Wave 1 to 54% in Wave 8), whilst the percentage of respondents concerned about the amount of calories in food has notably declined (from 42% in Wave 1 to 29% in Wave 8) (Figure 8). Concern about other food-related issues has remained broadly stable (data for other concerns can be found in the accompanying data tables).

Food and You 2: Wave 1-8

From Wave 2, respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which they were concerned about several specific food-related issues ^{(footnote 3)}. 

The percentage of respondents who reported feeling highly concerned about the affordability of food has notably increased over time (from 26% in Wave 2 to 49% in Wave 8). There has also been a slight decline in the percentage of respondents highly concerned about animal welfare (from a peak of 39% in Wave 3, to 32% in Wave 8**). Concerns about the availability of food, food being produced sustainably, ingredients and additives in food, genetically modified (GM) foods, and the availability of a wide variety of food have remained broadly stable (Figure 9).

Food and You 2: Wave 2-8 ^{(footnote 4)}

When asked the extent to which respondents were concerned about food produced inside the UK and food produced outside the UK being (i) safe and hygienic, and (ii) what it says it is, a higher percentage of respondents reported being concerned about food from outside the UK than food from inside the UK across all waves.

The percentage of respondents concerned about the safety and authenticity of food from both inside and outside the UK declined in Wave 4 (October 2021 to January 2022) and have since remained broadly stable (Figure 10).

Food and You 2: Wave 2-8