The Food Standards Agency (FSA) have now published the Wave 3 Technical Report from the ‘Food and You 2’ survey.

This is a biennial survey using a push-to-web methodology with households selected to take part in the survey receiving a letter that invited them to complete the Food and You 2 survey online. The survey measures consumer knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to food safety and other food issues amongst adults in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Fieldwork was conducted between 28 April 2021 and 25 June 2021 and a total of 6,271 adults from 4,338 households across England, Wales and Northern Ireland completed the survey.

Topics covered in the report include:

• Food Hypersensitivities
• Food shopping
• Online Food Platforms
• Healthy Eating
• Food Concerns
• Food we can trust
• Food Security

Main findings

• Most respondents (90%) reported that they were confident that the food they buy is safe to eat
• More than 8 in 10 (83%) respondents were confident that the information on food labels is accurate
• Almost three quarters of respondents (73%) reported that they had confidence in the food supply chain
• Three quarters (75%) of respondents who had at least some knowledge of the FSA reported that they trusted the FSA to make sure ‘food is safe and what it says it is’
• Most respondents (80%) had no concerns about the food they eat, and only 20% of respondents reported that they had a concern. The most common prompted concerns, from a given list of food related issues, were related to the amount of sugar in food (63%), and food waste (61%).
• Across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, 85% of respondents were classified as food secure (72% high, 13% marginal) and 15% of respondents were classified as food insecure (9% low, 6% very low)
• Most respondents reported that they often check the use-by (84%) or best before (82%) date when they have bought food.
• Most respondents (83%) who go food shopping and take into consideration a person who has a food allergy or intolerance were confident that the information provided on food labelling allows them to identify foods that will cause a bad or unpleasant physical reaction
• Around half (52%) of respondents had ordered food or drink via on online ordering and delivery company (for example, Just Eat, Deliveroo, Uber Eats) and 30% had ordered via an online marketplace (for example Amazon, Gumtree, Etsy)
• Eating habits had changed for most respondents in the last 12 months, with only 19% of respondents indicating that there had been no change in their eating habits

You can access the full detail in the final report and technical report.