Nutrition and consumption data from the EFS By Clare Burgon Defra Food Statistics Team

Background Defra receives food & drink data from the Expenditure & Food Survey Continuous survey to address seasonality The EFS started in April 2001 Food & drink data was previously collected under the National Food Survey Started in 1940 Extended to cover Eating Out in 1994 Extended to include Northern Ireland from 1996 EFS food and drink data recently revised back to 2001 to include free food and unspecified meals

Data collection Data collected over 2 weeks Records weight/volume and amount paid for all food and drink brought home (including free food) Records amount paid for takeaway meals and snacks eaten at home, Defra estimates portion size Records amount paid for all food and drink consumed away from home and type of meal Where possible, whole meals eaten out are split into food components

The Results Trends are the main strength of the survey with some data going back to 1974 and even to 1940 Consumption – average per person per week (using purchases as a proxy) Expenditure – average per person per week Nutrient intake - average per person per day (using nutrient conversion factors) All figures are averages – individual consumption or gender differences can not be identified

Trends informing policy Allows for 10% wastage Uses household and eating out data FSA run the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) which has more accurate data but not trends

Trends informing policy Allows for 10% wastage Excluded potatoes Only uses household purchases

The results are published in the annual report Family Food at United Kingdom level. Next publication due in December 2008 Also available in excel datasets Additional analyses includes: Country/region Household composition Income group of Household Reference Person Age of HRP Ethnic origin of HRP Occupational class of HRP Publications

Consumption published by Defra

Calculating purchases Each household is given a weight calculated by the ONS. Weights range from to The average is around 3.7. A survey household with a weight of 3.7 essentially represents 3700 UK households. Household calculation: Eating out calculation:

Nutrient intakes published by Defra

Calculating nutrient intakes Defra uses the food and drink coding structure used by the EFS The Food Standard Agency provide nutrient profiles for subgroups of the EFS codes Defra does a market share analysis of the FSA codes to determine how to calculate an overall profile per EFS code

Linking EFS and FSA codes

Calculating nutrient intakes Multiply purchased quantities by nutrient co-efficient to reach final figure per nutrient Nutrient coefficients are updated by the FSA on a rolling program. Recent updates include sausages, breakfast cereals and cheese. Buns, cakes and pastries will be updated next.

Nutrients by recommended level Some key nutrients are also expressed as a % of energy intake These figures can be measured against government guidelines to access the health of the nation

Plans for the future When required, Defra currently estimates 10% wastage. This is currently being revised using data from WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) FSA are revising some of their nutrient profiles with up to date nutritional information Defra are revising the market shares of the nutrient profiles Defra are planning to update eating out portion sizes Defra are looking into calculating standard errors for nutrient intakes