Confusion over date labels on food
Tuesday 10 February 2009
The results of an Agency-commissioned survey of public attitudes towards food issues show that many people are confused over date labels, which could mean that some are taking risks by eating food that is past its ‘use by’ safety date.
Only half (49%) of respondents in the Public Attitudes to Food Issues survey correctly identified the ‘use by’ date as the best measure of safety and just less than half (47%) said they would never eat cooked meat beyond its use by date – suggesting a large proportion are willing to take risks with the safety of their food by eating foods beyond the use-by date.
A quarter (26%) of respondents said they would never eat breakfast cereal beyond its best before date, even though best before dates are an indication of quality (i.e. freshness) rather than safety. People may therefore be throwing away food unnecessarily, as although it may no longer be at its best, it would still be safe to eat. The FSA recently reminded consumers about what the various date labels mean.
The Public Attitudes to Food Issues survey is part of a package of work the Agency is conducting to further understand what people think about food issues, particularly food shopping, healthy eating, food safety at home and when eating out.
Highlights of other areas of the survey
Top factors influencing what food people buy
- When choosing what to buy to eat at home, the top answers were: food that is healthy (60%), value for money (55%), and what I, or the family, likes (49%).
- When eating out of home, people generally take fewer things into consideration and healthy eating is less of a priority, although 40% still reported that choosing healthy foods is important. Food hygiene is more of a concern when eating out (36%), compared to eating at home (24%).
Healthy eating
- When asked about any changes to their diet they had made over the previous six months, three quarters of people (73%) had made at least one change. The most common changes were trying to eat more fruit and veg (35%) and drinking more water (34%).
- Only 6% stated they had been trying to eat more starchy foods and twice this number had been actively trying to cut down on starchy foods (12%). However, one in five said they were trying to eat more wholegrain foods, suggesting that this term is more positive in people’s minds than ‘starchy’ foods.
Saturated fat
- 61% of respondents thought they should be getting less saturated fat in their diet, with people from Northern Ireland more likely to state they should be getting less (66%).
- However, only 19% said they had been trying to cut down on saturated fat in the previous six months and the same proportion that they would be trying to do so over the next six months.
Food prices
- 7 in 10 respondents (71%) reported that they had made at least one change to their weekly shop as a result of increases in food prices. The most common changes were buying food products on special offer (30%) and buying fewer luxury items (29%).
- People from Scotland (75%), Wales (76%) and Northern Ireland (77%) were more likely to have made changes to their shopping habits as a result of food prices than people from England (71%).
Food safety when eating out
- The most common methods people used to assess food hygiene when eating out were the general cleanliness of the restaurant or café (65%) and its general appearance (61%).
- Around 6% said (unprompted) that they would check the food hygiene rating, and a quarter, when prompted, said they were aware of these ratings. The FSA announced in December 2008 that it would be working towards a national six-tier ‘scores on the doors’ scheme for England, Wales and Northern Ireland and a two-tier scheme in Scotland which will give consumers clear information about hygiene standards in food businesses.
Other areas covered by the survey include food additives, pesticides, veterinary medicines and allergy information. The report also showed that three in ten people would use the Internet to find out information about food, and one in five had heard of or visited one of the Agency’s websites.
This stand-alone survey was conducted by GfK NOP, with over 3,000 face to face interviews with the UK public between 9 October and 5 November 2008.
The survey was commissioned and managed by the Social Science Research Unit. For more information please call Robyn Ackerman on 020 7276 8494.
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