Food cost ‘major future concern’ for consumers
THE cost of food is a “major future concern” for three quarters of UK consumers and the number using a food bank has jumped from one in 10 to nearly one in six since last year, figures suggest.
More than one in five (22 per cent) of those surveyed in March say they skipped a meal or cut down the size of meals because they did not have enough money to buy food, according to research published by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
Some 76 per cent of UK consumers say the cost of food is a major future concern, while the number of people using a food bank or food charity has grown from 9 per cent in March last year to 15 per cent this
March, according to the agency.
The FSA said it was working with businesses to ensure that donating their food was as straightforward as possible, and to support those working in food banks and those using them to follow best practice for storage, preparation and cooking.
FSA chairwoman Professor Susan Jebb said: “In the face of the immediate pressures on people struggling to buy food, food banks are playing a vital role in our communities.
“We are urgently working with industry and other major donors, and food bank charities, to look at what more we can do together to ensure that food which is safe to eat can be redistributed to people who can benefit from this support.”
The FSA, with Defra and waste reduction organisation Wrap, have published best practice surplus food redistribution guidance.
Wrap chief executive Marcus Gover said: “We support the FSA’s efforts to address the concerns many of us have around the cost of food.
“We estimate that more than 200,000 tonnes of surplus food could still be redistributed each year.
“So, by working together we can increase the redistribution of this food, which will also reduce the environmental impact of our food and help achieve a thriving UK food system for all.”
A MOTORCYCLIST was taken to hospital yesterday after a collision involving an ambulance in the Hotwells area of Bristol.
Police said they were alerted at 6.20am to the crash in Jacobs Wells Road. They confirmed the motorcyclist was taken to hospital with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening.
A South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson said one of its vehicles was involved, and it had a patient on board at the time. They were taken to Bristol Royal Infirmary in another ambulance.
Police have asked any witnesses to call them on 101.