---
title: "Understanding consumer attitudes and behaviours around misinformation to inform communications activity to counter food safety misinformation"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-078e9b"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-078e9b"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078e9b.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078e9b.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "Food Standards Agency"
published: "2026-10-23"
---

# Understanding consumer attitudes and behaviours around misinformation to inform communications activity to counter food safety misinformation

Buyer: Food Standards Agency  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-078e9b

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## Summary

The Food Standards Agency commissioned social research into how consumers encounter and respond to food-related information online, with a particular focus on misinformation about food safety. The work is intended to examine consumer attitudes, behaviour and trust, and to provide evidence for communications that can improve confidence and help counter misleading claims. Findings are also intended to inform the Agency’s future communications, public engagement and policy development. This is a research and consultancy requirement, rather than a food testing or enforcement service. The buyer is the Food Standards Agency, a central government body. The procurement describes online information and consumer behaviour as the subject of the research; it does not identify a separate delivery location.

The procurement is complete and the contract has been awarded to The Social Agency/Basis Social Limited. It was a single-lot call-off from the Research: Social Science Call-Off, made directly without competition under a below-threshold procedure. The contract was signed on 21 October 2026 and runs from 21 October 2026 to 31 March 2027. Its value is £59,990.08 excluding VAT (£71,988.10 including VAT). The award records social research and related research services. No evaluation basis is stated in the process information. The published outcome identifies one awarded supplier; there are no separate lot awards to report.

For suppliers considering similar future work for the Food Standards Agency, this award demonstrates demand for focused social research that connects online information, consumer trust and food safety. A credible provider would need to design research capable of examining both attitudes and behaviour, and turn findings into practical evidence for communications and engagement. The work also needs to support policy development and help the Agency understand how to counter misinformation while improving consumer confidence. Social research and research consultancy capabilities are directly relevant; expertise confined to food testing, product supply or enforcement would not match the requirement described here. The selected supplier’s award shows that a specialist research provider can deliver this kind of focused assignment through the Agency’s social science call-off route.

## Notice

Calling off from C425727 Research: Social Science Call-Off. Research services to explore consumer attitudes, behaviours and trust in relation to food-related information encountered online. The work will provide evidence on how consumers engage with information and identify approaches to support effective communications, improve consumer confidence, and inform future communications, engagement and policy development.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/100312-2026 |
| Notice type | UK7 - Contract Details Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Direct |
| Procurement method details | Below threshold - without competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 23 Oct 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 21 Oct 2026 - 31 Mar 2027 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £59,990 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Complete |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | Food Standards Agency |
| Locality | YORK |
| Postcode area | York |
| Postcode | YO1 7PR |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLE Yorkshire and The Humber |
| ITL 2 | TLE2 North Yorkshire |
| ITL 3 | TLE21 York |
| Local authority | York |
| Electoral ward | Guildhall |
| Westminster constituency | York Central |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | The Social Agency/Basis Social Limited |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services
- 79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

### Codes

- 73000000 - Research and development services and related consultancy services
- 73110000 - Research services
- 79315000 - Social research services

## Release History

- 23 Oct 2026 at 10:44 - Award - UK7 - Contract Details Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/100312-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/100312-2026
  23rd October 2026 - Contract details notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://www.food.gov.uk/
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-078e9b. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078e9b.json.