Public Attitudes Tracker survey results published

1 Aug 2017 11:03 AM

The FSA’s Biannual Public Attitudes Tracker (May 2017) results have been published. We conduct this tracking survey with consumers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, in order to monitor changes in consumer attitudes towards the FSA and food-related issues.

Food issues of concern

The top food safety issues of concern for respondents were:

The top wider food issues of concern were: 

Since Wave 1, concern about sugar has risen more than for any other concern in this survey (+14%), from 39% at Wave 1 to 53% at Wave 14.

Concern about food safety in UK food outlets

48% of respondents reported concern about food safety in UK restaurants, pubs, cafés and takeaways. 43% of respondents reported concern about food safety in shops and supermarkets. Concern about food safety in shops and supermarkets has tended to fluctuate, but has been consistently lower than concern about food safety in restaurants, pubs, cafés and takeaways.

Awareness of food hygiene standards

The survey shows that 86% of respondents reported being aware of the hygiene standards in places they eat out at or buy food from. The most commonly reported ways of knowing about hygiene standards were via the general appearance of premises (62%) and hygiene stickers / certificates (also 62%).

Since Wave 1, for respondents aware of food hygiene standards outside the home, awareness of hygiene standards via food hygiene stickers / certificates has risen more than any issue in this survey (+29%), from 33% at Wave 1 to 62% at Wave 14.

Awareness of the FSA

Results show that 77% of respondents reported being aware of the FSA. As in previous waves, the main issue these respondents reported the FSA to be responsible for was ensuring food bought is safe to eat (88%). Of those who reported being aware of the FSA, 67% said they trusted, and 5% said they distrusted, the FSA to do its job.

Background

Fieldwork for this wave took place in May 2017 when a representative sample of 1,991 adults in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were interviewed face-to-face.

Biannual Public Attitudes Tracker survey May 2017

The FSA conducts a tracking survey with consumers, in order to monitor changes in consumer attitudes towards the Agency and food-related issues.