Animal
Health and Welfare Strategy indicators:
core indicator 5.5
Public attitudes
Indicators are available in downloadable Adobe Acrobat 
format on request - For queries or information on this indicator contact Defra’s animal health and welfare statistics on +44 (0) 1904 456582 or email ahw.stats@defra.gsi.gov.uk
| Vision: Consumers value the confidence they have in food produced safely from healthy animals that are well cared for. Consumers and retailers accept that higher standards of animal health and welfare are not cost free. |
- Animal Health and Welfare Strategy – indicator fact sheet
- Animal Health and Welfare Strategy – indicator data sheet
Core indicator 5.5: Public attitudes – indicator fact sheet
| Indicator | Public attitudes towards the livestock industry and government. |
| Data | 1) Attitudes to farming and animal welfare 2) Attitudes to meat and dairy products |
| Geographic coverage | England |
| Years | 1) 2006 2) 2000 - 2006 |
| Source | 1) Defra 2) Food Standards Agency (FSA) |
| Origin of data | 1) Defra ‘Market Research Report: Defra Public Tracking 2006’ 2) Food Standards Agency (FSA) ‘Consumer Attitudes to Food Standards Survey’. |
| Updates | This indicator will be updated biannually and was last updated in June 2007. The next update will be December 2007. |
| Background | Public opinions are a complex response to perceptions, previous knowledge and influences such as media reporting. However, these opinions provide an backdrop to the environment that the Animal Health and Welfare Strategy is operating within and reflect widest stakeholder attitudes. |
| Statistical & methodological information | For both of the surveys the sample size is robust at a country level, designed to be representative of the country’s population. For the Defra Public Tracking Survey the sample size was 1085 in 2006. The FSA survey sample size in 2006 was 1393. It must be noted that this type of statistical survey are subject to fluctuations, particularly depending on media interest at the point of the fieldwork. |
| Further information | The full annual report, published by the Food Standards Agency, can be found at http://food.gov.uk/science/surveys. The survey covers a wide range of food related issues. |
Core indicator 5.5: Public attitudes – indicator data sheet
The following chart shows elements of public opinion regarding the production of meat and how government deals with disease outbreaks. Chart 5.5(i) is taken from the Defra Market Research Report, conducted in 2006.
Chart 5.5(i) shows:
- Overall 77% of respondents are confident that British meat is produced by healthy animals, 48% are strongly confident that this is the case.
- When the respondents were asked about whether they felt that the government was doing enough to protect animals from disease 22% agreed strongly, 36% agreed slightly. Overall 38% disagreed with the statement, of which 20% disagreed strongly.
- They were then asked whether the government deals with disease outbreaks effectively. 50% of respondents felt that this was the case, although only 18% agreed strongly.
Chart 5.5(ii) shows prompted concerns surrounding production techniques, and is taken from ‘The Consumer Attitudes to Food Standards Survey’ and participants responses when asked to select from a list of options any issues related to food about which they had concerns (prompted concerns)
- The public concern over BSE saw a sharp decline from 60% of respondents mentioning BSE (when prompted) in 2000, to 39% of respondents doing so in 2005.
- Concern regarding the feed given to livestock peaked during 2001 at 51% of respondents mentioning this as an issue they were concerned about. This dropped to around 38-39% for the following 3 years. However, it increased to 43% of respondents in 2005.
- Concern about the overall conditions for raising animals and about antibiotics in meat, remained reasonably constant over the 6 years charted.
Chart 5.5(iii) shows the results from the 2006 Consumer Attitudes Survey. A similar question was asked in previous surveys, but as the response list was substantially changed in 2006 to reflect current food issues, direct comparisons have not been made with earlier data.
Chart 5.5(iii) shows that:
- Since 2000, the level of concern about BSE has been decreasing, and in 2006 it was one of the least mentioned issues of concern, with 18% of respondents mentioning it when prompted.
- Following the pattern seen in previous years, more consumers are concerned about the feed given to livestock (25%) than about BSE, and even more are concerned about the conditions in which food animals are raised (33%)
- Bird/avian flu concerns was a new option given to respondents in 2006; 20% of respondents mentioned it as a concern when prompted.
- The conditions in which food animals are raised continues to be a high concern for those questioned in 2006, with 1 in 3 respondents mentioning it when prompted.
Page last
modified:
12 October, 2007
Page published: 24 November, 2006