Impact of the COVID-19 on food purchasing, eating, behavior, and perception of food safety

Foodinsight published a survey on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on food-related habits. They found that people are doing less shopping in-person and cooking more. ½ of the surveyed taker are shopping less in person, buying more in each shopping trip, and buying more shelf-stable products.  Online grocery shopping increases. 16% started shopping for groceries online; 13% report increasing the frequency of online deliveries. Recommended health habits and grocery shopping.  Only 63% of people report doing so after visiting the grocery store. ½ are trying to minimize touching surfaces. Women were more likely than men to be taking many precautions, and white people were more likely to do so as compared to other races/ethnicities. Those 65+ had the highest percentage of people washing their hands after shopping (73%), minimizing touching surfaces (62%) and shopping during less busy times (50%).  The most concerning parts of food shopping. 42% of respondents were most worried about the health of other shoppers, while 37% were worried about the health of store employees. 28% were concerned about running out of staple items. Buying more packaged foods. 42% are buying more packaged foods than usual. Eating habits have changed.  27% said that they’ve been snacking more, and 15% say they’re eating more than usual. Most are confident in the safety of the food supply. 80% are confident that the food they are buying is safe. @ https://foodinsight.org/consumer-survey-covid-19s-impact-on-food-purchasing/