According to the FSA’s Food and You 2 survey, public confidence in food safety across England, Wales and Northern Ireland has increased.
The latest wave of the Food and You 2 survey was conducted between October 2024 and February 2025. It found that 94% of respondents said that they are “confident that the food they buy is safe to eat”, which has gone up from 88-90% in the previous three surveys.
FSA said that this is the highest level of public confidence in food safety recorded since the Food and You 2 project began in 2020.
Report findings
FSA also reported that public confidence has grown in other key areas, with 86% of respondents saying that they were confident that the information on food labels is accurate, up from 81-83% in the previous surveys, while consumer confidence in the food supply chain has risen to 77% of respondents in the latest survey, up from 68-72% previously.
Regarding the FSA itself, the report found that 83% of respondents were “confident that the FSA can be relied upon to protect the public from food-related risks”. This figure has increased from 78-79% in the previous three surveys. FSA also reported that 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 from the report:
- 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%).
- 80% of respondents were classified as food secure and 20% of respondents were classified as food insecure, and 3% of respondents reported that they had used a food bank or other emergency food provider in the last 12 months.
- 65% of respondents reported that they always check use-by dates before they cook or prepare food.
FSA chief executive Katie Pettifer commented: “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.”
