Over half of seven to 12 year olds claim they don’t get their knowledge of food from home – listing instead other influences such as the internet, television, peers and teachers, according to a national survey by the Honey Association. 

The children surveyed knew considerably more about processed foods than they did about natural, healthy items. While almost all (95%) knew that chips and crisps are made from potatoes, half mistakenly thought yogurt comes from fruit rather than from an animal, and over 40% of seven year olds don’t know that honey comes from an insect. Worryingly, 30% of boys and 20% of girls stated they weren’t actually interested in knowing where the foods they eat come from. 

A lack of food education from home seems to be taking its toll on children’s diets and health. When asked to select the foods they had tried from a list, crisps, chips, burgers and fish fingers were well ahead of other foods with over 80% of children having tried them, while natural foods such as aubergines, hummus and prunes struggled with less than 20% of respondents having tasted them. 

To mark this year’s National Honey Week from 12-18th February, The Honey Association is launching an educational booklet to help parents teach their children all about cooking with natural, healthy ingredients such as honey. 

Brian Butcher, chairman of the Honey Association, said: 
“Currently, many natural, healthy foods are not being introduced to kids early enough or often enough to become a lifestyle choice. More parents should be encouraging their children to use and consume non processed ingredients so they can understand where nutritious meals come from and how they are made.” 

Notes to editors 
The research for the Honey Association was carried out online by Tickbox.net amongst a nationally representative sample of 253 UK children aged between 7 and 12 years old.

Parents can request a copy of the informative new booklet by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

Between 12-18 February, special offers will run throughout the country’s supermarkets in support of National Honey Week 2007. For more fast facts and tasty recipes log onto www.honeyassociation.com. 

For further information about The Honey Association, contact Elle Denton or Heather Battams on 020 7255 1100, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..