Research project
Food and You - Wave Three
Approach and insights from wave three of the biennial Food and You consumer survey.
Food and You is a biennial survey exploring the public’s attitudes, reported knowledge and behaviour relating to food safety and other food-related issues. Wave 3 of the survey was carried out in 2014. The UK report was published in October 2014. Separate country reports for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland were published in December 2014. You can access the secondary analysis for waves 1-3 of Food and You.
Objectives
The objectives for Wave 3 of the Food and You survey were to collect quantitative information to enable the FSA to:
- explore public understanding of, and engagement with, our aim of improving food safety
- identify specific target groups for future interventions, for example, those most at risk or those among whom FSA policies and initiatives are likely to have the greatest impact
- monitor changes over time - compared with data from Waves 1 and 2 or from other sources - of reported attitudes and behaviour
- broaden the evidence base and develop indicators to assess progress in fulfilling our strategic plans, aims and targets
Wave 3 of the survey consisted of 3,453 interviews across the UK among a representative sample of adults aged 16 and over. Samples in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales were boosted to approximately 500 interviews to enable more detailed analysis at a nation level, and an individual report has been produced for England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. Fieldwork was carried out between March and August 2014.
Executive summary and bulletins
Executive summaries of the findings for the UK and each of the four UK nations can be found via the links below. These provide brief overviews of Wave 3 findings.
Descriptive overviews of the key findings for the UK and each UK nation are available in separate bulletin reports. These can be found lower down this page. While these bulletins provide an overview of the descriptive findings, a secondary analysis project has been commissioned which will further explore these data. Reports from this project will be published here in the form of working papers in due course.
England, Northern Ireland and Wales
England
Northern Ireland
Wales
Bulletin one - eating, cooking and shopping
This bulletin reports findings on consumer practices related to eating, cooking and shopping, including information about frequency of cooking and eating at home; variation in changes in eating and shopping for financial reasons; and information on where people learnt to cook, and get information about food safety. Findings are also included on dietary restrictions, including allergy incidence.
England
Northern Ireland
Bulletin two - food safety in the home
This bulletin reports findings on domestic food safety practices. This includes practices related to the ‘4 Cs’ (cooking, cleaning, chilling, and cross-contamination) and use and understanding of date labels, specifically use-by dates. Reported behaviour in relation to use of leftovers and reheating food is also considered.
England, Northern Ireland and Wales
England
Wales
Northern Ireland
Bulletin three - eating outside the home
This bulletin reports findings relating to eating outside the home. This includes frequency of eating out and the types of establishments visited; perception of food standards and hygiene when eating out; and awareness and use of hygiene standard indicators, including the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme and Food Hygiene Information Scheme.
England
Wales
Northern Ireland
Bulletin four - food poisoning and attitudes towards food safety and food production
This bulletin reports findings on reported incidence of food poisoning, attitudes to food safety and food production. This includes whether respondents have experienced food poisoning and whether they went to a doctor or hospital as a result; whether respondents agree or disagree with a range of statements about food safety practices; and how concerned respondents are about imported food products.
England, Northern Ireland and Wales
England
Wales
Northern Ireland
Bulletin five - advice on healthy eating
This bulletin reports findings for Northern Ireland and Scotland on advice of healthy eating.
This includes knowledge of nutritional recommendations, including the eatwell plate and ‘5-a-day’; knowledge of the fruits and vegetables that count as a portion towards the 5-a-day recommendation; awareness of recommended daily intake of calories, fat, and salt; and perception of factors which are important for a healthy lifestyle.
Bulletin six - health and eating
This bulletin reports findings for Northern Ireland and Scotland on eating and health.
This includes attitudes towards:
- healthy eating
- consumption of different types of food
- perceptions of diet
- dietary change - including barriers and motivation to change
- eating out
- eating healthily.
Northern Ireland
Technical reports
The technical report provides the technical details of the survey, including a full description of the methods used at Wave 3, detailed information about response rates, and copies of key survey documents such as the questionnaire, advance letter and leaflet.
An additional technical report was produced on the impact of the increasing value of incentives, and how this may have contributed to shaping the profile of respondents, the survey response rate, the maximum expected bias within key demographic subclasses, and the survey estimates produced based on the Food and You Wave 3 survey data.
Cognitive testing report
This report summarises the key findings from the cognitive testing, in addition to recommendations which have been made in light of the key learning’s gathered over the course of the interviews.
Compliance with GSR and GSS codes of practice
Food and You is compliant with the Government Social Research (GSR) Code of Practice and Government Statistical Service (GSS) Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Compliant reports are published with the GSR and GSS logos respectively.