Brits worry about other things than food safety

Despite numerous high profile cases of concerning BSE, foot-and-mouth and other food-related diseases, consumers in the UK are now worrying less about these problems than in previous years, according to the latest UK Consumer Attitudes to Food survey, published by the Food Standards Agency.

The third annual survey reveals a small but significant decrease in concern about food safety - from 71 per cent in 2000 to 68 per cent in 2002 - and an overall decline in the number of people with concerns about specific food issues.

Among the most significant findings of the survey are a 16 per cent fall in concern about BSE (45 per cent in 2002 compared to 61 per cent in 2000), and a fall in concern about genetically modified (GM) foods - from 43 per cent in 2000 to 36 per cent in 2002.

Since the first survey was published in 2000, consumers have also become less concerned about the safety of meat, with a significant decrease in concern about types of meat such as beef, pork, lamb and raw meat. Confidence in the role played by the Food Standards Agency has also increased significantly, with 60 per cent of consumers now claiming to be very or fairly confident in the Agency's role in protecting health with regard to food safety, an increase of 10 per cent since 2000.

The results of the Consumer Attitudes to Food survey are based on a representative sample of more than 3,000 consumers across the UK and reveal the views and the issues that really matter to them. Although there have been few significant changes in consumer behaviour over the past year, particularly with regards to nutrition, diet and shopping habits, the survey does show that consumers are slowly becoming more confident about food safety and standards.

The 2002 survey also reveals a small increase in the number of people claiming to eat convenience food, illustrated by an increase in the amount of people regularly eating ready-meals and buying takeaway food.

Sir John Krebs, chairman of the Food Standards Agency, said: "The small but steady decline in public concern about food safety and some important food issues is extremely positive news, both for consumers and the Food Standards Agency. In the past three years we have made some headway in the journey to earning public confidence and trust. This annual survey, by continuing to highlight changing opinion about the issues that matter most to consumers, is a valuable contribution to the continuing public debate on food safety."​

But the survey looked at a wide range of other issues in addition to food safety. On the issue of food labelling, for example, the survey showed that 25 per cent of consumers still believe that food labels contain too little information, and that deciphering what information there is can often be hard. One in five consumers found labels 'fairly difficult' to understand, while one in 20 found them 'very difficult'.

Labels also play an increasing part in providing information about calories, with 29 per cent of those questioned saying they sought that kind of information on labels, compared to 21 per cent in 2000.

Rather more encouraging news is the revelation that more people now have a knowledge, if not necessarily an understanding, of the '5-a-day' message - from 43 per cent in 2000 to 52 per cent in 2002. Scottish consumers had the highest level of awareness of the 5-a-day message (56 per cent), while Welsh consumers had the least awareness (48 per cent). But while knowledge of the 5-a-day programme is all well and good, putting the advice into practice is quite another: only 27 per cent of consumers claim to have eaten five or more portions of fruit and vegetables the day before being questioned.

Concerns over the safety of meat have also done little to push consumers into a vegetarian lifestyle, with just 5 per cent of UK households having one or more member who is vegetarian or on a special diet, unchanged from previous years. Vegetarianism is most common in the south east of England, which is also where most consumers are likely to eat organic food.