The FSA's second annual survey of public attitudes to food and drink issues raises some interesting points about eating in the UK.
The Food Standards Agency's (FSA) second annual survey of public attitudes to food safety, standards, nutrition, diet and shopping, indicates a small but significant improvement in consumers' awareness of healthy eating and nutritional issues, as well as better comprehension of food labels.
The Consumer Attitudes to Food survey reflects the views of more than 3,000 people across the UK and the issues that really matter to them. The survey results show the greatest level of concern among UK consumers is over food safety issues such as food poisoning, BSE and pesticides, but that consumers are increasingly aware of information on food and confident of advice being provided by the FSA.
The attitudes survey 2001 also revealed some significant changes since 2000, and some key regional variations in consumers' attitudes to food issues.
South West
The survey shows that compared to other English regions, consumers in the South West are:
Least likely to be vegetarian (4%) (joint with Midlands)
Most likely to eat dairy products regularly (97%)
Least likely to use fast food outlets regularly (7%)
Most likely to look for information on food labels about additives (46%)
Most likely to have heard of the Food Standards Agency (75%)
Sir john Krebs, Chairman of the FSA said: "This survey reveals the food issues that matter most to consumers in each part of the country, and is a valuable contribution to the continuing debate on food safety and standards. The Food Standards Agency will continue to champion measures to improve food standards and consumer confidence in food".
Food Labelling
Since 2000, there has been a small but significant increase across the UK in understanding of the terms 'use by' (33% in 2000 to 40% in 2001) and a small increase in understanding of 'best before' (34% in 2000 to 36% in 2001)
However, in 2001 43% of UK consumers still did not understand the meaning of '80% fat free' and 66% of respondents could not correctly pick the main ingredient from a sample food label
Levels of concern about food containing GM ingredients have fallen among English consumers - from 25% in 2000, to 17% in 2001 claiming to look for information about GM on food labels. Regionally, significant drops have occurred in the North West, (from 20% in 2000 to 10% in 2001) the South West (from 39% in 2000 to 17% in 2001) and the South East (from 30% in 2000 to 18% in 2001)
Healthy Eating & Nutrition
The 2001 survey reveals small positive shifts in the number of people in the UK eating less fatty foods, food and drinks containing sugar, and meat, and eating more fish, fruit, vegetables and salad
In the North West, 45% of respondents claimed to be eating less fatty food and 40% are eating food and drinks containing sugar, suggesting an increasingly healthy diet among consumers in the North West
Between 2000 and 2001, the figure for those in the North East claiming to eat a more healthy diet increased from 31% (the lowest regional figure in 2000) to 42%, bringing the North East in line with the national average
Awareness of the healthy eating message '5 portions of fruit/vegetables a day' in the UK has increased significantly in 2001 (from 43% in 2000 to 49% in 2001) - although only 28% of respondents in the UK claimed to have actually eaten 5 portions the day before
14% of consumers in the North East and 15% in the North West had not eaten any portions of fruit or vegetables the day before
Food Concerns
Consumers in England are most concerned about food poisoning (59%), followed by BSE (56%), animal feed (51%), pesticides (51%) and conditions in which animals are reared (44%)
Regionally, consumers in the South West seem to be most concerned about food issues, with consumers in the North West being least concerned about all issues except BSE, which concerns 61% of consumers in the North West (against a national average of 56%)
Consumers in the South East are more concerned than consumers in other regions about GM food (44%) and food allergies (24%)
Eating Habits
Just under half of UK consumers claimed to eat frozen or packaged foods regularly, with one in three eating ready meals on a regular basis. Ready meals were particularly important in the North East, being eaten by 37% of consumers, significantly more than the South West (25%), North West (26%) and Midlands (26%)
In total, 56% of respondents in the UK claimed to eat convenience foods regularly
Takeaway outlets (e.g. fish and chip shops, Chinese, Pizza) are used by 49% of UK consumers, with 38% regularly or occasionally visiting fast food outlets (e.g. McDonalds, KFC) and 36% regularly or occasionally eating in restaurants
Regionally, take away and fast food outlets are most popular in the North East, where 26% and 20% of consumers used them regularly in 2001, and least popular in the South West, where only 17% and 7% used them on a regular basis in 2001
20% of consumers in England said that they eat organic food regularly - with 24% in the South East and 23% in the South West, significantly higher than consumers in the North West (11%)
Shopping Habits
Shopping habits in 2001 remained very similar to those revealed in the 2000 survey - Women in the UK are far more likely to be responsible for all or most household shopping, and 95% of UK consumers buy the majority of their food from supermarkets
Respondents in the South East (98%) were significantly more likely to do most of their food shopping in supermarkets than those in the North West (91%)
Only 4% of UK consumers claim to use local shops on a regular basis, with only 1% of consumers in the South East doing most of their food shopping in local shops, compared to 9% in the North West, 6% in the South West and 5% in the North East
Food Standards Agency
There has been a significant increase in awareness of the FSA itself among English consumers: from 57% in 2000, to 71% in 2001, with significant changes in all 5 regions:
From 49% to 66% in the North East, an increase of 17%
From 59% to 75% in the South West, an increase of 16%
From 58% to 73% in the Midlands, an increase of 15%
From 58% to 73% in the North West, an increase of 15%
From 59% to 69% in the South East, an increase of 10%
Confidence in the FSA increased significantly in 2001, with 61% of UK consumers who were aware of the Agency being confident of the Agency's role (compared to 55% in 2000).
28% of English consumers claimed they had seen information provided by the FSA (including in press and broadcast reports). The highest positive response came from the South East (32%), significantly higher than the lowest positive responses from the North East (23%) and North West (23%).
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is a central Government agency established to protect the public's health and consumer interests in relation to food safety and standards across the UK. The FSA incorporates the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) - itself an Executive Agency of the FSA since 1995 - which is responsible for the protection of public health relating to meat products, as well as animal health and welfare issues. The FSA Scotland has been in existence since April 2000.
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