Expenditure and Food Survey
The Expenditure and Food Survey (EFS) is a continuous survey run by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) since 2001. Energy and nutrient intakes are calculated using standard profiles for each of some 500 types of food. 'Family Food' reports based on the survey analysis are published annually by DEFRA. These reports provide detailed national level information on purchased quantities, expenditure and nutrient intakes from food and drink (including food eaten out). The nutrient intakes are based on averages for households - information is not provided on variations/extremes within households.
From 2008, the EFS, along with other major national surveys on topics as diverse as smoking, housing, employment and training, will be brought together to form the Integrated Household Survey (IHS) to increase the range of the statistical outputs.
- Methodology: Survey sent to 12,000 addresses in UK. Self report diaries of all purchases (including food eaten out) over a two week period, is collected from a sample of UK households.
- Start date: April 2001
- Frequency of survey: Annual
- Most recent return: 2007
- Commissioned by: Social Surveys Division of the Office of National Statistics and DEFRA
- Coverage: UK
- Caveats: Not robust to regional/local level
- Link to data source: http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/findingData/efsTitles.asp
- Link to associated papers: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/ssd/surveys/expenditure_food_survey.asp, https://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/publications/efs/default.asp
