Food in Scotland consumer tracker - wave 19 report

Published by:

  • Food Standards Scotland

Content guide

Awareness and trust in FSS

Levels of awareness

In this section, we asked consumers if they've heard of FSS and what their level of trust is in the organisation.

Have you heard of FSS?

When asked if they'd heard of FSS, 78% said they had. Of those who had heard of FSS, 47% said they know a little or a lot about the organisation.

16-34 year olds (17%) were more likely to state they know a lot about FSS compared to those aged 35+ (8%), whereas 65+ were more likely than younger age groups to have heard of FSS but not know anything about them (37%).

Ethnic Minority respondents (19%) were more likely to know a lot about FSS compared to White respondents (10%) as did those with children in the household (18% vs 7% of those without children).

Those who had clear information on eating a healthy balanced diet were more aware (51% know a lot/a little) of FSS than their counterparts (38%).

Those who felt calorie/nutritional information should be available on request were more knowledgeable about FSS (50%) compared to those who didn’t want information (37%).

Here is a visual only interactive chart of: 11% said they knew a lot, 36 said they knew a little, 31% said they'd heard of FSS but didn't know anything about them and 22% had not heard of FSS.

Please find more information provided in the detailed description and/or table below.

Level of awareness of FSSPercentage
Know a lot11%
Know a little36%
Head of but don't know anything31%
Have not heard of them22%

Awareness compared to previous research

Due to changes in the wording of the question, we can't make a direct comparison with the findings from previous waves of the Tracker. However, just under four fifths knew a lot, a little or had heard the name 'FSS' in W19 which is similar to the number that stated ‘Yes’ they were aware of FSS in previous waves.

In wave 16 of the consumer tracker, 78% said 'yes' they'd heard of FSS, in wave 17 it was 81% and in wave 18 it was 82%. The question changed for wave 19 where 78% said they know a lot, a little, or had heard of FSS but don't know anything about it.

Here is a visual only interactive chart of: Wave 16 consumer tracker 78% said 'yes' they'd heard of FSS, in wave 17 it was 81%, wave 18 it was 82%. For wave 19, 78% said they know a lot, a little or had heard of FSS but don't know anything about it.

Please find more information provided in the detailed description and/or table below.

Wave% indicated they had heard of FSS
1678%
1781%
1882%
1978%

Trust in FSS

Two thirds of those who had heard of, know a little or know a lot about FSS, trusted FSS. This was lower than the level of trust reported in W18; however, the questions were asked in a different way in W19 and therefore the data is not directly comparable.

At 72%, trust is high amongst those that claim to have knowledge of FSS.  Similar to W18, trust in FSS was higher among those who reported having clear information on eating a healthy balanced diet (78% vs. 54%) and those who felt calorie/ nutritional information should be available on request when eating out (75% vs. 60%).

 

Here is a visual only interactive chart of: Out of the people who have heard of FSS, 34% said they trust it a lot, 38% said they trust it, 23% neither trust or distrust it, 4% distrust it, and less than 1% distrust it a lot.

Please find more information provided in the detailed description and/or table below.

Level of trustPercentage
Distrust it a lot<1%
Distrust it4%
Neither trust or distrust it23%
Trust it38%
Trust it a lot34%

Reasons for trusting or not trusting FSS

Those that had heard of FSS were asked why they did or did not trust the organisation. This was a free text box and answers were grouped by theme.

Reasons for trusting FSS:

  • They keep consumers safe / act in public interest (20%)
  • Do a good job (19%)
  • Do important work (17%)
  • Trustworthy organisation (14%)
  • Provides quality information (10%)

Reasons for not trusting FSS:

  • Unclear what is in food (23%)
  • Lack of transparency (18%)
  • Bad experience e.g. food poisoning (14%)
  • Not helpful for consumers (works more for companies) (14%)

Summary of awareness and trust in FSS

When prompted, the majority had heard of FSS or knew a little or a lot about FSS (78%). This is similar to awareness reported at W18 (82%), but the findings are not directly comparable due to a change in the question wording.

Less than half (47%) knew a lot or a little about FSS.  Younger respondents were more likely to know a lot about FSS (17% of 16-34 year olds), whereas 65+ year olds were more likely to have heard of FSS but not know anything about them. This differs from W18 where the younger audience had lower general awareness of FSS.

Those who had clear information on eating a healthy balanced diet were more aware of FSS (51% know a lot/a little) than their counterparts (38%). 

The majority of those who knew of FSS placed trust in it. There were no differences between demographic groups.

References:

  1. Have you heard of Food Standards Scotland? Base (all) W16 1017, W17: 1039, W18: 1027

    Which of the following organisations are you aware of? Base (all) W19: 1009 (New Question format for W19)

  2. Thinking about Food Standards Scotland (FSS) in general, please use the scale to rate them on: Trust. Base (those know a lot/a little about FSS) W19: 468. New question format for W19.

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