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Consumer research

Almost one in two food shoppers rate price as the most important thing when buying groceries, according to a poll commissioned by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

The poll of more than 1000 people, which will feed into the Agency’s submission to the Policy Commission on Food and Farming (PCFF), found that 46% rated price as the most important factor, ahead of taste, quality, health issues and production methods.

This was consistent across all social groups and was particularly key for those aged between 35 and 44 years, 57% of whom said price influenced them the most.

The poll also showed that while people were concerned about food production – with how animals are treated being the main issue within that – nearly two thirds were either very or fairly confident about current food safety measures.

The poll marks the public launch of www.talkfood.org.uk, a new website to enable consumers to give their views on food and food production.

These will be used by the Agency when it makes its submission to the PCFF, set up by the Government to look at the future of farming and food production.

FSA deputy chair Suzi Leather said: ‘This opinion poll is one of the many tools the Food Standards Agency is using to find out what consumers want and what they really think about their food from farm to fork.

“The Agency has an important role to play in the forthcoming debate on food and farming in the UK.

“We want to encourage consumers to give their views in a direct debate. One of the ways they can do this is through our talkfood website and by coming to public meetings throughout the country.’

The top five factors listed by those questioned for the poll were:

*Price (46%)
*Taste (18%)
*Quality (17%)
*Personal and family health (12%)
*Production-method & organic, free range (10%).

The research also showed that:

*95% of people shop for food at supermarkets,
*36% of people use their local shop to buy groceries,
*13% of people shop for groceries at farmers’ markets.

Of the 77% of people who said they were either very or fairly concerned about the way food is produced:

*23% mentioned the way animals are treated and raised
*18% mentioned chemicals and preservatives
*11% mentioned genetically modified foods
*10% mentioned cleanliness and hygiene
*8% mentioned mass production, saying food should be free-range.

The poll also showed that, when prompted, the following were either very important or quite important to most people:

*Personal and family health (98%)
*Taste (97%)
*Food safety concerns (93%)
*Conditions in which animals are raised (88%)
*Environmental concerns (88%)
*Price (82%)
*Appearance (78%)
*Locally produced food (65%)
*Production method (62%)
*Seasonal choices (56%)
*Country of origin (52%)
*Brand Name (41%)

People were also asked how concerned they were about the way in which food was produced. Those who were either very or fairly concerned (77%) were asked, unprompted, to list the factors they were concerned about. The results were as follows:

*How animals are treated and raised (23%)
*Chemicals and preservatives (18%)
*Genetically modified foods (11%)
*Cleanliness/hygiene (10%)
*Mass production/should be free range (8%)

The full report is available as a downloadable MS Word document.

Regional seminars

The Food Standards Agency is also supporting a number of seminars this month, organised by the Regional Development Agencies and Regional Food Task Forces. The events will give local people a chance to have their say in person and further help the Agency with its response to the PCFF. For full details, visit Meetings.

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People aren’t daft. They know what’s good for them. But your choice of food is limited if you have a low income or live on a peripheral housing scheme. I would like to choose to eat good food but I can’t get humus in Easterhouse. One clove of garlic costs 40p here, and it costs 70p for an avocado the size of a plum. In Byres Road [in Glasgow’s West End] I can get 20 cloves of garlic for 90p and an avocado the size of a small melon for the same price – but it takes an hour to get there on public transport.
Cathy McCormack, community development worker, Glasgow
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Food facts: food poisoning
Lamb sales in the first three months of this year slumped by 20%. Pork sales were down by 15% and beef and veal down by a tenth. In contrast, people ate 16% more fish between March 2000 and March 2001.
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Food facts: food poisoning
In 1980 8% of women and 6% of men in England were obese. By 1999, those figures had almost trebled to 21% of women and 18% of men. And in 1998 obesity led to an estimated 18 million sick days and 30,000 premature deaths. The NHS spends at least half a billion pounds a year treating obesity.
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