Older people gamble with food safety, says FSA

The research published today shows that less than half of this age group recognise 'use by' dates as an important indicator of whether food is safe or not, and so they could be putting themselves at risk of serious illness. Other findings include: Less than half (42%) of older people questioned in the survey correctly identified the 'use by' date as an important indicator of whether a food is safe, and only a third of people (34%) aged over 65 would never eat dairy past its 'use by' date, compared with more than half of people aged 16–24 (56%) and 25–44 (54%) and two fifths (40%) of those aged 45–64. Meanwhile less than half (39%) of people aged over 65 checked their fridge temperature at least every six months. Other research commissioned by the Agency into the attitudes of the over 60s towards food safety, showed that people were reluctant to throw away food and were often confused by fridge temperatures. The research findings are taken from new analysis of the Agency's Public Attitudes to Food Issues Survey, the full report of which was published in February 2009. A total of 3,219 face-to-face interviews were carried out in autumn 2008 with the UK public to explore attitudes and stated behaviours to a range of food issues.