AbstractObjectiveTo summarise the methods of data collection on foods eaten outside the home in the National Food Survey (NFS) and the new (2001) Expenditure and Food Survey (EFS).DesignThe treatment of foods eaten outside the home in the NFS was reviewed as part of a merger process with the UK household budget Family Expenditure Survey (FES). Problem issues were identified and the way these problems are being dealt with in the EFS is indicated.SettingUnited Kingdom.ResultsPilot EFS results indicate improved coverage of foods eaten outside the home, in a comparable period to the NFS.ConclusionThe new EFS, which represents a merger of the NFS and the FES at the level of data collection and validation, is likely to preserve the qualities of the previous surveys and represents an improvement over them.