Food and You 2: Wave 6 Key Findings
F&Y2 Wave 6: Chapter 1 Food you can trust
This chapter provides an overview of respondents’ awareness of and trust in the FSA, as well as their confidence in food safety and the accuracy of information provided on food labels.
Introduction
The FSA’s overarching mission is ‘food you can trust’. The FSA’s vision is a food system in which:
- food is safe
- food is what it says it is
- food is healthier and more sustainable
This chapter provides an overview of respondents’ awareness of and trust in the FSA, as well as their confidence in food safety and the accuracy of information provided on food labels.
Confidence in food safety and authenticity
Most respondents reported confidence (for example, were very confident or fairly confident) in food safety and authenticity; 93% of respondents reported that they were confident that the food they buy is safe to eat, and 87% of respondents were confident that the information on food labels is accurate(footnote).
Confidence in food safety varied between different categories of people in the following ways:
- age group: older respondents were more likely to be confident that the food they buy is safe to eat than younger adults (for example, 88% of those aged 16-24 years compared to 97% of those aged 65-79 years)**.
- food security: respondents who were more food secure were more likely to be confident that the food they buy is safe to eat compared to those who were less food secure (for example, 97% of those with high food security compared to 85% of those with very low food security).
- ethnic group: white respondents (95%) were more likely to be confident that the food they buy is safe to eat than Asian or Asian British (82%) respondents(footnote).
- responsibility for cooking: respondents who are responsible for cooking (93%) were more likely to be confident that the food they buy is safe to eat than those who don’t cook (83%).
Confidence in the accuracy of information on food labels varied between different categories of people in the following ways:
- annual household income: respondents with a higher income were more likely to be confident in the accuracy of food labels than those with respondents with a lower income, (for example, 92% of those with an income between £64,000 and £95,999 compared to 80% of those with an income of less than £19,000).
- NS-SEC(footnote): respondents in managerial, administrative, and professional occupations (90%), intermediate occupations (89%), and semi-routine and routine occupations (88%) were more likely to report confidence in the accuracy of food labels than those who were long term unemployed and/or had never worked (78%).
- food security: respondents who were more food secure were more likely to report confidence in the accuracy of food labels than those who were less food secure, (for example, 90% of those with high food security compared to 78% of those with very low food security).
Confidence in the food supply chain
Around three quarters of respondents (76%) reported that they had confidence (for example, very confident or fairly confident) in the food supply chain(footnote).
Confidence in the food supply chain varied between different categories of people in the following ways:
- age group: older respondents were more likely to report confidence in the food supply chain than younger adults (for example, 81% of those aged 55-64 years compared to 67% of those aged 16-24 years). In addition, 10% of those aged between 16 and 24 years reported that they don’t know how confident they are in the food supply chain.
- NS-SEC: respondents in occupations (for example, 85% of those in lower supervisory and technical occupations) and those who were long term unemployed and/or had never worked (74%) were more likely to report confidence in the food supply chain than full-time students (61%). In addition, 13% of those were long-term unemployed and/or had never worked reported that they don’t know how confident they are in the food supply chain.
- region (England)(footnote): confidence in the food supply chain varied by region. For example, 85% of respondents in North-East England and 81% of those in the East Midlands were confident in the food supply chain compared to 70% of those in London and 70% of those in South-East England.
- food security: respondents who were more food secure were more likely to report confidence in the food supply chain than respondents who were less food secure (for example, 80% of those with a high level of food compared to 69% of those with very low food security).
Figure 1: Confidence that food supply chain actors ensure food is safe to eat
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Source: Food and You 2: Wave 6
Respondents were asked to indicate how confident they were that key actors involved in the food supply chain ensure that the food they buy is safe to eat. Respondents were more likely to report confidence (for example, very confident or fairly confident) in farmers (88%) and shops and supermarkets (85%) than in takeaways (62%), and food delivery services for example, Just Eat, Deliveroo, Uber Eats (45%) (Figure 1)(footnote). In addition, 20% of respondents reported that they don’t know how confident they are that food delivery services ensure that the food they buy is safe to eat.
Awareness, trust and confidence in the FSA
Awareness of the FSA varied between different categories of people in the following ways:
- age group: older respondents were more likely to have heard of the FSA than younger respondents (for example, 97% of those aged 65-79 years had heard of the FSA, compared to 68% of those aged 16-24 years).
- annual household income: respondents with an income of more than £32,000 (for example, 97% of those with an income between £64,000 and £95,999) were more likely to have heard of the FSA than those with an income of less than £19,000 (84%).
- NS-SEC: respondents in most occupational groups (for example, 95% of those in intermediate occupations) were more likely to have heard of the FSA than full-time students (64%).
- ethnic group: white respondents (93%) were more likely to have heard of the FSA compared to Asian or Asian British respondents (74%)(footnote).
- responsibility for cooking: respondents who are responsible for cooking (91%) were more likely to have heard of the FSA than those who do not cook (71%).
- responsibility for food shopping: respondents who are responsible for food shopping (91%) were more likely to have heard of the FSA than those who never shop for food (71%).
Figure 2: Knowledge about the Food Standards Agency (FSA)
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Source: Food and You 2: Wave 6
Most respondents reported at least some knowledge of the FSA; 7% reported that they knew a lot about the FSA and what it does, and 49% reported that they knew a little about the FSA and what it does. Almost a third (31%) of respondents reported that they had heard of the FSA but knew nothing about it, 6% had not heard of the FSA until being contacted to take part in Food and You 2, and 7% had never heard of the FSA (Figure 2)(footnote).
Knowledge of the FSA varied between different categories of people in the following ways:
- age group: respondents aged between 25 and 79 years (for example, 68% of those aged 55-64 years) were more likely to report knowledge of the FSA compared to younger respondents (38% of those aged 16-24 years) or the oldest respondents (41% of those aged 80 years and over).
- annual household income: respondents with a higher income were more likely to report knowledge of the FSA compared to those with a lower income (for example, 63% of those with an income between £64,000 and £95,999 compared to 52% of those with an income of less than £19,000).
- NS-SEC: respondents in managerial, administrative, and professional occupations (63%) were more likely to report knowledge of the FSA than those who were in some occupational groups (for example, 50% of those in semi-routine and routine occupations). Those who were long term unemployed and/or never worked (33%) or full-time students (31%) were least likely to report knowledge of the FSA.
- country: respondents in Wales (65%) were more likely to report knowledge of the FSA than those in England (56%) or Northern Ireland (56%).(footnote)**
- responsibility for cooking: respondents who are responsible for cooking (57%) were more likely to report knowledge of the FSA compared to respondents who do not cook (40%).
- responsibility for shopping: respondents who are responsible for shopping (58%) were more likely to report knowledge of the FSA compared to respondents who never shop (38%).
Respondents who had at least some knowledge of the FSA were asked how much they trusted the FSA to do its job, that is to make sure food is safe and what it says it is. Most (78%) respondents reported that they trusted the FSA to do its job, 19% of respondents neither trust or distrust the FSA to do this, and 1% of respondents reported that they distrust the FSA to do this(footnote).
Most respondents reported that they were confident that the FSA (or the government agency responsible for food safety) can be relied upon to protect the public from food-related risks (such as food poisoning or allergic reactions from food) (82%). Around 8 in 10 respondents were confident that the FSA takes appropriate action if a food-related risk is identified (82%), and were confident that the FSA is committed to communicating openly with the public about food-related risks (79%)(footnote).