Food safety poll offers mixed results

Although fewer US consumers are concerned about food safety, more are worried about the risk of fresh fruits and vegetable

Fewer people in the US are worried about food safety in comparison to a year ago, according to the latest NPR-Thomson Reuters health poll.

However, concerns about fresh produce have increased, with 30 per cent of people claiming fruit and vegetables pose the greatest risk, compared with 23 per cent last year.

Meat, meanwhile, still leads the list of foods that worry people about most, although down 7 per cent from 2010.

The survey revisited questions posed to consumers in July 2010 when concerns surrounded problems with lettuce and the safety of seafood after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

According to the report, around 57 per cent of those interviewed said they are concerned or very concerned about the safety of food now, compared with 61 per cent last year.

In the new poll a similar proportion of respondents to last year (around 11 per cent) said something they had eaten had made them sick in the previous three months.

But more of the people (about 22 per cent) who reported getting sick said that the illness was pretty serious, compared with 12 per cent in 2010.

Income also appears to bear on how concerned people are about the safety of the food they eat.

A majority (53 per cent) of respondents earning less than US$25,000 a year said they were very concerned about food safety, compared with 39 per cent for those earning over US$100,000 a year.

The telephone poll was conducted during the first two weeks of July. The results reflect the answers of 3,017 people.

Fuente: Fruitnet

Aporte: Cristián García