F&Y2 Wave 7-8 NI: 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. In Northern Ireland, the FSA is also responsible for nutrition policy. 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.

Common concerns

Respondents were asked to spontaneously report whether they had any concerns about the food they eat. Most respondents (83%) had no concerns about the food they eat, and 17% of respondents reported that they had a concern.  ^{(footnote 1)}

Respondents were asked to indicate if they had concerns about several food-related issues, prompted by a list of options. The most common concerns related to food prices (67%) and food quality (64%), followed by food waste (55%) and the amount of sugar in food (55%). Around half were concerned about food poisoning (52%), the amount of salt in food (49%), the amount of food packaging (48%), and food hygiene when eating out (47%) (Figure 3).  ^{(footnote 2)}

Figure 3. Most common (top 12) prompted food-related concerns.

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Type of concern	Percentage %
Animal welfare	45
Food hygiene when ordering takeaways	45
The amount of fat in food	45
Being able to eat healthily	46
Food hygiene when eating out	47
The amount of food packaging	48
The amount of salt in food	49
Food poisoning	52
The amount of sugar in food	55
Food waste	55
Food quality	64
Food prices	67

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Source: Food and You 2: Wave 8

Food concerns differed between different groups of people:

• Gender: Women were more likely to be concerned about food poisoning (58%) and food prices (72%) than men (46% and 62% respectively).
• Age: respondents in older age groups were more likely to be concerned about a range of food issues compared to younger respondents. For example, those aged 65-74 were more likely to be concerned about food hygiene when eating out (57%), amount of salt (67%), sugar (72%) and fat in food (61%), food waste (75%), quality of food (76%), the amount of food packaging (63%) and being able to eat healthily (63%), compared to those aged 25-34 (food hygiene when eating out; 38%, amount of salt; 33%, sugar; 40%, and fat in food; 35%, food waste; 48%, quality of food; 57%, the amount of food packaging; 39%, and being able to eat healthily; 36%).
• Households without children under 6 were more likely to be concerned about food hygiene when eating out (49%) and food hygiene when ordering takeaways (46%) compared to households with young children (aged 6 or under) (36% and 36% respectively). They were also more likely to be concerned about the amount of salt in food (51%, compared with 39%).

Respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which they were concerned about specific food-related issues. Respondents were most likely to report a high level of concern about the affordability of food (52%), followed by genetically modified (GM) food (31%), animal welfare in the food production process (30%), and ingredients and additives in food (29%). Around a quarter of respondents reported a high level of concern about food from outside the UK and Ireland being safe and hygienic (26%) and food from outside the UK and Ireland being what it says it is (23%) (Figure 4). ^{(footnote 3)}

Figure 4. Level of concern about food-related topics.

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Concern	Not at all concerned	Not very concerned	Somewhat concerned	Highly concerned
Food produced in the UK and Ireland being what it says it is	15	39	30	12
The availability of a wide variety of food	11	37	35	13
Food produced in the UK and Ireland being safe and hygienic	14	37	30	16
Food being produced sustainably	7	25	44	19
Food from outside the UK and Ireland being what it says it is	6	22	45	23
Food from outside the UK and Ireland being safe and hygienic	5	21	45	26
Ingredients and additives in food	5	18	45	29
Animal welfare in the food production process	6	20	40	30
Genetically modified (GM) food	7	22	32	31
Affordability of food	2	8	36	52

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Source: Food and You 2: Wave 8