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A fifth of young adults think fish fingers are actually made from the fingers of fish, a new study reveals.

Alarming research released today highlights a lack of knowledge when it comes to identifying where the food we eat comes from.

A quarter (25 per cent) are ‘confused’ about whether wasps make honey and nine per cent think potatoes grow on trees.

Meanwhile, one in seven (15 per cent) do not know that lamb comes from sheep or that a pork chop comes from a pig (15 per cent).

(Image: Getty)

The study, carried out by Rowse Honey, found over a third of those aged between 16 and 24 (35 per cent) are not aware that veal comes from cows.

It also indicates that young adults struggle to answer simple questions regarding the humble bumble bee.

One in six (15 per cent) think bees make syrup and one in eight (12 per cent) believe farmers have to ‘squeeze’ bees to get honey out of them.

Stupid young adults 15% Don't know lamb is from sheep 15% Don't know pork chops from pigs 12% Think farmers squeeze bees to get honey

But this ignorance seems to be accepted by the nation.

It comes as almost one in five (18 per cent) of young adults aged say they simply don’t need to know where food comes from.

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Two thirds of adults blame the nation’s lack of food knowledge on sourcing the food from the shelves of supermarkets (64 per cent).

Meanwhile, a further six in ten (60 per cent) blame it on buying ready meals.

And it appears our naivety regarding food seems to be inherited from our parents, the study of 2,000 UK adults found.

More than a fifth of mothers and fathers (22 per cent) admit they have lied to their children about the origin of some food because they didn’t know the answer.

This results in a quarter (26 per cent) becoming ‘embarrassed’ due to their lack of understanding.

The study also suggests that we are unable to identify day-to-day animals which produce food we regularly eat.

(Image: Getty)

More than two thirds of us (67 per cent) can’t place a honey bee and 40 per cent have no idea how honey is made.

Ian Ainsworth, Managing Director of Rowse Honey, said: “Our research shows that as a nation, we’re very naive about where our food comes from.

“The humble honeybee is responsible for pollinating a third of the food that we find on our plates, yet more than two thirds (67 per cent) can’t tell the difference between wasps, bees and honeybees.

“It’s shocking that six per cent of Brits mistakenly think that honeybees are pests and a quarter (19 per cent) would actively try and kill them if they found them in their room.

“At Rowse Honey, we’re passionate about honeybees; that’s why in 2015, we set up the Bee a Beefarmer apprenticeship scheme to help halt the decline of UK honeybees, boost beehive numbers and help to future-proof bee farming in the UK.”