The latest wave of the Food and You 2 survey, conducted between October 2024 and February 2025, found that 94% of respondents said they are confident that the food they buy is safe to eat. This is a higher proportion than in the previous three surveys, which found that between 88-90% of respondents were confident.
This is the highest level of public confidence in food safety recorded since the Food and You 2 project began in 2020.
Public confidence has also grown in other key areas. 86% of respondents said they were confident that the information on food labels is accurate, up from 81-83% in the previous three surveys.
Consumer confidence in the food supply chain has also risen to 77% of respondents in the latest survey, up from between 68-72% in the previous three surveys.
These findings show that the public has strong confidence in food safety, which is very encouraging to see.
Our job is to protect people by making sure food is safe and what it says it is, and this trust reflects the hard work across the food system.
We’ll keep working closely with industry, local authorities, and wider government to maintain and strengthen this trust.
Chief Executive of the FSA, Katie Pettifer
The report found that 83% of respondents were confident that the FSA can be relied upon to protect the public from food-related risks, up from 78-79% in the previous three surveys. 81% were confident that the FSA takes appropriate action if a risk is identified, and 77% were confident that the FSA is committed to communicating openly with the public about food-related risks.
Other notable findings in the report include:
- The most common changes to eating habits reported by respondents were that they had eaten less processed food (47%), started eating more fruit and/or vegetables (35%), and started minimising food waste (35%).
- 70% of respondents reported that they always wash their hands before preparing or cooking food, and 92% reported that they always wash their hands immediately after handling raw meat, poultry, or fish.
- 65% of respondents reported that they always check use-by dates before they cook or prepare food, and 60% of respondents correctly reported that their fridge temperature should be between 0-5 degrees Celsius.
- Across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, 80% of respondents were classified as food secure and 20% of respondents were classified as food insecure. Meanwhile, 3% of respondents reported that they had used a food bank or other emergency food provider in the last 12 months.
About the report:
The Food and You 2 survey is an official statistic and measures self-reported knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to food safety and other food topics.
Fieldwork for Food and You 2: Wave 10 was conducted between 09 October 2024 and 07 February 2025, and a total of 5,690 adults (aged 16 years or over) from 3,965 households across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland took part.
The FSA’s Home Food Fact Checker has tips for consumers on how to help make food go further and stay safe.
Read the research:
The full Wave 10 report is available in the research section of our website.
