IFIC Spotlight Survey: A Second Look At COVID-19’s Impact On Food Purchasing, Eating Behaviors & Perceptions Of Food Safety
May 20, 2020
Research Type
Topics
In the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic has been entrenched in our daily lives for over two months. In the midst of its impact on the health of many and the lives of everyone, the way we’re thinking and acting around food and food safety continues to evolve.
We conducted our first consumer research on COVID-19’s effects on shopping for food, eating habits and perspectives on food safety in early April. This most recent survey, fielded May 7th to May 12th, serves as a follow-up to this initial research. It tracks several questions asked previously in April and asks new ones to help us better capture the full scale of the pandemic’s effects on how we think and feel about food in these ever-changing times.
Key findings include:
- Since April, there has been a consistent downturn in following risk-reducing practices related to COVID-19 and grocery shopping.
- Wearing protective equipment, frequent cleaning, wearing gloves while working, and offering sanitizers or wipes are perceived as the most important actions grocery store employees can take regarding food safety.
- The health of other shoppers and grocery store employees, as well as running out of staple foods, remain the most concerning parts of food shopping.
- Compared with April, slightly fewer report purchasing more packaged foods than usual.
- More than one in three have a more favorable opinion about the safety of packaged foods since the start of COVID-19’s impact.
- Food waste and food packaging are focuses for some.
- There are clear worries about food insecurity and grocery budgets.
- Roughly half of consumers are eating the same amount of most types of protein.
- Confidence in the safety of the food supply and the ability for food producers to meet consumer needs remains high.
- Three in ten people place more trust in government agencies, scientific studies, healthcare professionals and friends and family since COVID-19 began impacting the U.S.