The results from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) Biannual Public Attitudes Tracker for November 2014 have been published, providing useful insights into public concerns around food.
Food issues of concern
The top three food safety issues of total (i.e. spontaneous plus prompted) concern for respondents were food hygiene when eating out (39%), food poisoning (32%), the use of additives in food products (29%) and date labels (29%).
The top wider food issues of total concern were food prices (50%), food waste (48%) and the amount of sugar in food (47%).
Concern about food safety in UK food outlets
50% of respondents reported concern about food safety in UK restaurants, pubs, cafes and takeaways.
45% of respondents reported concern about food safety in shops and supermarkets.
Awareness of the FSA
78% of respondents reported being aware of the FSA, which is in line with variations across previous waves. As in previous waves, the main issue respondents reported the FSA to be responsible for was ensuring food bought is safe to eat (89%). Of those who reported being aware of the FSA, 65% said they trusted, and only 7% said they distrusted, the FSA to do its job.
Awareness of hygiene standards
85% of respondents reported being aware of the hygiene standards in places they eat out at or buy food from.
Of these respondents, 46% reported hygiene certificates, and 35% reported hygiene stickers, as ways of knowing about hygiene standards. The proportion of respondents reporting use of certificates or stickers were both higher than in any previous wave.
Background
Fieldwork for this wave took place in November 2014 and a representative sample of 2,684 adults in the UK was interviewed via the TNS consumer face-to-face omnibus survey. This is the ninth wave of the biannual tracker which started in November 2010.
The FSA conducts a tracking survey with consumers, in order to monitor changes in consumer attitudes towards the FSA and food-related issues.