Public confidence in food safety across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland has increased, according to a survey by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
The survey, conducted between October 2024 and February 2025 with 5,690 adults, found that 94 percent of respondents are confident that the food they buy is safe to eat. This is a higher proportion than in the previous three surveys, when the rate was between 88 and 90 percent.
It is also the highest level of public confidence in food safety since the Food and You 2 project began in 2020.
Strong confidence in food safety
Respondents were more likely to have concerns about food produced outside the UK being safe and hygienic and what it says it is compared to food made in the UK.
“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,” said Katie Pettifer, FSA chief executive.
A recent Eurobarometer survey by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) revealed seven in 10 Europeans are personally interested in food safety.
The UK poll found 70 percent of participants always wash their hands before preparing or cooking food, and 92 percent always wash their hands immediately after handling raw meat, poultry or fish.
Almost 40 percent said they occasionally wash raw chicken. FSA advice is not to wash raw chicken and meat as it can spread harmful bacteria onto hands, clothes, utensils, and worktops.
Reported consumer habits
Nearly two thirds of respondents said they always check use-by dates before they cook or prepare food. Bagged salad and cheese were the foods people were most likely to eat after the use-by date.
Sixty percent correctly reported that their fridge temperature should be between zero and 5-degrees C (32- and 41-degrees F) but a fifth said it should be above 41 degrees F.
Just less than half of those surveyed said they had checked the food hygiene rating of a business in the past 12 months.
A total of 81 percent of respondents said they would only reheat food once, 10 percent would reheat food twice, and 3 percent would reheat it more than twice. FSA recommends that food is only reheated once.
In line with FSA advice, around six in 10 said they would eat leftovers within two days. However, 28 percent would eat them within 3 to 5 days and 2 percent said more than 5 days.
The report found that 83 percent of respondents were confident that the FSA can be relied upon to protect the public from food-related risks, up from 78 to 79 percent in the previous three surveys. A total of 81 percent were confident that the FSA takes action if a risk is identified, and 77 percent believed the agency communicates openly with the public about food-related risks.
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