Food and You 2 - Wave 2

Introduction

Food and You 2 is a biannual survey which measures self-reported consumer knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to food safety and other food issues amongst adults in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

The survey is primarily carried out online using a methodology known as ‘push-to-web’.

Fieldwork was conducted between 20 November 2020 and 21 January 2021. A total of 5,900 adults from 3,955 households across England, Wales and Northern Ireland  completed the survey.

Topics covered in the Food and You 2: Wave 2 Key Findings report include:

• Trust in FSA and the food supply chain
• Concerns about food
• Food security
• Eating out and takeaways
• Food allergy, intolerance, and other hypersensitivities
• Food safety in the home

Main findings

Key findings from the Food and You 2: Wave 2 report:

• More than 9 in 10 (93%) respondents reported that they had confidence that the food they buy is safe to eat. Over three quarters of respondents (77%) reported that they had confidence in the food supply chain
• Three quarters (78%) of respondents who had a least some knowledge about the FSA trust the FSA to make sure food is safe and what it says it is
• Most respondents (88%) reported that they had no concerns about the food they eat. The most common prompted concerns, from a given list of food related issues, were the amount of sugar in food (60%), food waste (60%) and animal welfare (57%)
• Across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 84% of respondents were classified as food secure (73% high, 11% marginal) and 16% of respondents were classified as food insecure (8% low, 7% very low)
• Three fifths (60%) of respondents had eaten food which was ordered from a takeaway either ordered directly or via an online delivery company (e.g. Just Eat, Deliveroo, Uber Eats etc.) in the previous 4 weeks
• Most respondents (87%) reported that they had heard of the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme. Of those, 51% had checked the Food Hygiene Rating of a food business in the previous 12 months
• Fewer than 1 in 10 (9%) respondents reported that they had a food intolerance, 3% had a food allergy, 1% had coeliac disease and 1% had multiple food hypersensitivities
• Respondents who suffer a bad or unpleasant physical reaction to food were more likely to report confidence in the allergen information provided by restaurants (82%), cafés, coffee or sandwich shops (79%), and pubs or bars (75%) compared to information provided by takeaways when ordering directly from a takeaway shop or restaurant (63%) or when ordering through an online ordering and delivery company (e.g. JustEat, Deliveroo, UberEats) (50%), food-sharing apps (e.g. Olio or Too Good To Go) (23%), or Facebook Marketplace (21%)
• More than 6 in 10 (62%) respondents reported that they always check use-by dates before they cook or prepare food

Research reports

Data tables

The results tables for the Wave 2 report are available in our data catalogue.