F&Y2 Wave 7-8 NI: Chapter 6: Eating at home

Introduction

The FSA is responsible for protecting the public from foodborne diseases. This involves working with farmers, food producers and processors, and the retail and hospitality sectors to ensure that the food people buy is safe. The FSA gives practical guidance and recommendations to consumers on food safety and hygiene in the home.

The Food and You 2 survey asks respondents about their food-related behaviours in the home, including whether specific foods are eaten, and knowledge and reported behaviour in relation to five important aspects of food safety: cleaning, cooking, chilling, avoiding cross-contamination and use-by dates. Food and You 2 also asks respondents about the frequency they prepare or consume certain types of food.

Two versions of the ‘Eating at home’ module have been created; a ‘core’ module which includes a limited number of key questions which are fielded annually, and a ‘deep dive’ module which includes additional questions and is fielded every 2 years. This chapter reports on questions from the core ‘Eating at home’ module.  ^{(footnote 1)}

This chapter provides an overview of respondents’ knowledge and reported behaviours relating to food safety and other food-related behaviours.

Cleaning

Handwashing in the home

The FSA recommends that everyone should wash their hands before they prepare, cook or eat food, after handling raw food and before preparing ready-to-eat food.

The majority (74%) of respondents who cook, reported that they always wash their hands before preparing or cooking food. However, 25% reported that they do not always (i.e., most of the time or less often) wash their hands before preparing or cooking food, and 1% reported never doing this.  ^{(footnote 2)}

Most (93%) respondents who cook, reported that they always wash their hands immediately after handling raw meat, poultry, or fish. However, 6% reported that they do not always (i.e., most of the time or less often) wash their hands immediately after handling raw meat, poultry or fish, and 1% reported never doing this.  ^{(footnote 3)}

Handwashing when eating out

Respondents were asked, how often, if at all, they washed their hands or used hand sanitising gel or wipes before eating when they ate outside of their home. 64% reported that they always or most of the time washed their hands or used hand sanitising gel or wipes when they ate outside of their home, 26% did this less often (i.e. about half of the time or less often), and 10% never did this.  ^{(footnote 4)}

Chilling

The FSA provides guidance on how to chill food properly to help stop harmful bacteria growing. When asked what temperature the inside of a fridge should be, 65% correctly answered between 0-5°C, while 16% incorrectly answered that the temperature should be above 5°C, 4% answered less than 0°C, and 15% said they did not know.  ^{(footnote 5)}

If and how respondents check fridge temperature

60% of respondents who had a fridge reported that they monitored the temperature, either manually (50%) or via an internal temperature alarm (10%). ^{(footnote 6)} Of the respondents who manually check the temperature of their fridge, 45% reported that they check the temperature of their fridge at least once a week, as recommended by the FSA.  ^{(footnote 7)}

Cooking

The FSA recommends cooking food at the correct temperature for the correct length of time to ensure that harmful bacteria are killed. When cooking pork, poultry, and minced meat products the FSA recommends that the meat is steaming hot and cooked all the way through, that none of the meat is pink and that any juices run clear.

Respondents were asked to indicate how often they cook food until it is steaming hot and cooked all the way through. The majority (82%) of respondents who cook reported that they always cook food until it is steaming hot and cooked all the way through, while 18% reported that they do not always do this.   ^{(footnote 8)}

When respondents were asked to indicate how often they eat chicken or turkey when the meat is pink or has pink juices ^{(footnote 9)}, the majority (93%) reported that they never did this. However, 6% reported that they did this at least occasionally.  ^{(footnote 10)}

Reheating

The FSA recommends reheating food thoroughly and only ever reheating leftovers once, because repeatedly changing temperatures provides more chances for bacteria to grow and cause food poisoning.

Respondents were asked to indicate how they check food is ready to eat when they reheat it. The most common method was to check if the middle was hot (58%) followed by following the instructions on the label (44%) (Figure 15). ^{(footnote 11)}

When respondents were asked how many times they would consider reheating food after it was cooked for the first time, the majority reported that they would only reheat food once (87%), 7% twice, and 2% more than twice.  ^{(footnote 12)}

Source: Food & You 2: Wave 8

Leftovers

Respondents were asked how long they would keep leftovers in the fridge before eating them. 72% reported they would eat leftovers within 2 days, 21% within 3-5 days, and 1% after 5 days or longer.  ^{(footnote 13)}

Avoiding cross-contamination

The FSA provides guidelines on how to avoid cross-contamination. The FSA recommends that people do not wash raw meat because doing so can splash harmful bacteria onto hands, work surfaces, ready-to-eat foods and cooking equipment, which could then cause food poisoning.”

Almost two-thirds (65%) of respondents reported that they never wash raw chicken, whilst 32% of respondents reported washing raw chicken at least occasionally (i.e. occasionally or more often). ^{(footnote 14)}

How and where respondents store raw meat and poultry in the fridge

The FSA recommends that refrigerated raw meat and poultry is kept covered, separately from ready-to-eat foods and stored at the bottom of the fridge to avoid cross-contamination.

Respondents were asked to indicate, from a range of responses, how they store meat and poultry in the fridge. Respondents were most likely to report storing raw meat and poultry in its original packaging (66%) and/or away from cooked foods (60%).

Over a third of respondents reported storing raw meat and poultry in a sealed container (40%), with a lower proportion covering it with film/foil (33%), and/or storing it on a plate (14%). ^{(footnote 15)}

Over two-thirds (71%) of respondents reported only storing raw meat and poultry at the bottom of the fridge, as recommended by the FSA. However, 13% of respondents reported storing raw meat and poultry wherever there is space in the fridge, 11% in the middle of the fridge, and 5% at the top of the fridge.  ^{(footnote 16)}

Use-by and best before dates

Respondents were asked about their understanding of the different types of date labels and instructions on food packaging, as storing food for too long or at the wrong temperature can cause food poisoning. Use-by dates relate to food safety, whereas best before (BBE) dates relate to food quality.

Over two-thirds (70%) of respondents correctly identified the use-by date as the information which shows that food is no longer safe to eat. However, 10% of respondents incorrectly identified the best before date as the date which shows food is no longer safe to eat. ^{(footnote 17)}

Around three-quarters (77%) of respondents reported that they always check use-by dates before they cook or prepare food, while 21% reported doing this at least sometimes (i.e. occasionally or more often, but not always), and 1% reported never checking use-by dates.  ^{(footnote 18)}

The proportion of people who reported ‘always’ checking the use-by date varied by demographic:

• Gender: women (82%) were more likely to report always checking the use-by date than men (71%)
• Age: those aged 55-64 (84%) were more likely to always check the use-by date than those aged 65-74 (72%) and those aged 45-54 (73%). 
• Household size: households of 1, 3 or 4 people (83%, 82% and 81%) were more likely to always check use-by dates than households of 5 or more people (68%).

Respondents were asked the latest they would consume different types of food after its use-by date. Most respondents reported that they would not consume shellfish (81%) or any other fish (75%) after its use-by date, while over half reported that they would not consume raw meat (63%) or smoked fish (59%) after its use-by date. Meanwhile more than half of respondents reported that they would consume cheese (64%), bagged salad (58%), and yoghurt (56%) after its use-by date (Figure 16).  ^{(footnote 19)}

Source: Food & You 2: Wave 8