Concern about food hygiene when eating out and the use of additives in food products are the top two issues raised by consumers in the latest “tracker survey” carried out by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
The survey also revealed high level concern about food waste and the amount of both sugar and salt in today’s foods.
When questioned on their general awareness of hygiene standards in the food sector, 83% of respondents reported being aware of the hygiene standards in places they eat out at or buy food from.
More specifically on this issue, 61% said they assessed hygiene standards on the general appearance of premises, followed by the appearance of staff (46%), the use of hygiene certificates (43%) and the displaying of hygiene stickers (32%).
The survey also assessed consumer awareness of the FSA and its work with 80% of respondents in England, Wales and Northern Ireland reporting being aware of the agency while 65% said they also trusted the organisation.
On the negative front, however, 7% said they “distrusted” the FSA to do its job properly.