The Food Standards Agency (FSA) have recently published an overview of Waves 7 and 8 of the Food and You 2 survey for Northern Ireland.

Food and You 2 is a biannual ‘Official Statistic’ survey commissioned by the FSA. The survey measures self-reported consumers’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to food safety and other food issues amongst adults in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

The modules presented in the report include ‘Food you can trust’, ‘Concerns about food’, ’Food security’, ‘Eating out and takeaways’, ‘Food allergies, intolerances and other hypersensitivities’, ‘Eating at home’, ‘Food shopping and labelling’ and ‘Healthy eating’. 

Wave 7 fieldwork was conducted between 28 April 2023 and 10 July 2023 with 1,526 adults in Northern Ireland. Wave 8 fieldwork was conducted between 12 October 2023 and 8 January 2024 with 1,550 adults in Northern Ireland.

Some of the key findings included:

91% were confident that the food they buy is safe to eat

84% were confident that the information on food labels is accurate

76% were confident in the food supply chain

83% had no concerns about the food they eat, and 17% had a concern

The most common concerns were food prices (67%) and food quality (64%)

73% said it was important to them to buy food which has a low environmental impact and 35% said they often buy food which has a low environmental impact

64% believed that eating less processed food contributes most to a sustainable diet

77% said they ate fruit and vegetables every day or most days, and 55% said what they usually eat is fairly healthy

Read the report in full here