Chapter 1: Awareness and recognition of the FHRS
This chapter provides an overview of respondents’ awareness and recognition of the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS).
Awareness of the FHRS
Most respondents (89%) reported that they had heard of the FHRS. Around six in ten (59%) reported that they had heard of the FHRS and knew a lot or a bit about it. Almost a third (31%) of respondents reported that they had heard of the FHRS but didn’t know much or anything about it. Around 1 in 10 respondents (11%) reported that they had not heard of the FHRSFHRS.</p> " href="#">(footnote) .
Figure 1. Respondents who had heard of the FHRS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
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Source: Food and You 2 Wave 4
Most respondents in England (89%), Wales (95%), and Northern Ireland (92%) had heard of the FHRS (Figure 1)**. Respondents in Wales (74%) and Northern Ireland (65%) were more likely to report knowledge of the FHRS than those in England (57%)**.
Figure 2. Awareness and knowledge of the FHRS by age group
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Respondents aged between 16 and 74 years were more likely to have at least a bit of knowledge of the FHRS than those aged 75 years or over. For example, 68% of those aged 45-54 years reported knowledge of the FHRS, compared to 37% of those aged 75 years or over (Figure 2).
Awareness and knowledge of the FHRS also varied between the following groups of people
- Annual household income: respondents with an income above £19,000 (for example, 62% of those with an income of £64,000-£95,999) were more likely to report knowledge of the FHRS compared to those with an income of less than £19,000 (53%)**.
- National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC): respondents in all other groups (for example, 62% of those in managerial, administrative, and professional occupations) were more likely to report knowledge of the FHRS than those who were long term unemployed and/or never worked (45%).
- Responsibility for cooking: respondents who were responsible for cooking (60%) were more likely to report knowledge of the FHRS than those who do not cook (44%).
- Responsibility for shopping: respondents who were responsible for food shopping (59%) were more likely to report knowledge of the FHRS than those who never shop for food (46%).
Figure 3. Locations where respondents had come across the FHRS.
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Source: Food and You 2 Wave 4
Respondents were asked where they had come across the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme. The most common place respondents had come across the FHRS was a food hygiene rating sticker displayed at a food business premises (85%). Over a third (37%) of respondents had come across the FHRS on a food business’ website, 22% had come across the FHRS on a food ordering and/or delivery website and/or app (for example, Just Eat, Deliveroo, Uber Eats), and 14% of respondents had come across the FHRS on the FSA’s website (Figure 3) (footnote).
Figure 4. Top 5 places where respondents had come across the FHRS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
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Source: Food and You 2 Wave 4
Most respondents in England (84%), Wales (91%) and Northern Ireland (90%) had come across the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme via a sticker in a food business (Figure 4)**.
Recognition of the FHRS
When shown an image of the food hygiene rating sticker, almost 9 in 10 (88%) respondents reported that they had seen the food hygiene rating sticker before. Recognition of the food hygiene rating sticker was slightly lower in England (87%) than in Wales (95%) and Northern Ireland (94%) (footnote) **.
Figure 5. Food hygiene rating sticker recognition by age group.
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Source: Food and You 2 Wave 4
Younger adults were more likely to have seen the food hygiene rating sticker than older adults. For example, 96% of respondents aged 16-24 years reported that they had seen the food hygiene rating sticker, compared to 60% of those aged 75 years and over (Figure 5).
Recognition of the food hygiene rating sticker also varied between the following types of people:
- Annual household income: respondents with a higher income were more likely have seen the food hygiene rating sticker than those who had a lower income. For example, 95% of those with an income of £96,000 or above had seen the food hygiene rating sticker compared to 81% of those with an income of less than £19,000.
- NS-SEC: respondents in some occupational groups for example, managerial, administrative and professional occupations (89%) and full-time students (97%) were more likely have seen the food hygiene rating sticker than those who were long term unemployed and/or never worked (76%).
- Responsibility for shopping: respondents who were responsible for food shopping (88%) were more likely to have seen the food hygiene rating sticker than those who never shop for food (76%).
Figure 6. Food businesses where respondents had seen a food hygiene rating sticker in last 12 months.
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Source: Food and You 2 Wave 4
Respondents were asked where they had seen the food hygiene rating sticker in the last 12 months. Most respondents had seen the sticker in restaurants (81%), in cafés (71%), or in takeaways (66%) (Figure 6) FHRS sticker.</p> " href="#">(footnote).
Figure 7. Food business where respondents had seen the food hygiene rating sticker in last 12 months in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
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Source: Food and You 2 Wave 4
Most respondents had seen the food hygiene rating sticker in restaurants in England (80%), Wales (82%) and Northern Ireland (84%)**. Around 8 in 10 respondents in Wales (79%) and Northern Ireland (77%) had seen the food hygiene rating sticker in cafés compared to 70% of respondents in England**. Respondents in Wales (61%) and England (51%) were more likely to have seen the food hygiene rating sticker in pubs than those in Northern Ireland (40%) (Figure 7).
Revision log
Published: 21 October 2022
Last updated: 23 October 2023