Two recent surveys of consumers show record lows in confidence of the safety of the U.S. food supply.
In a Gallup poll, 28 percent of survey respondents do not have much confidence, and 14 percent have “none at all.” In a survey by the International Food Information Council (IFIC), survey questions involved selected microbial concerns, such as the presence of E. coli and heavy metals in food, as the primary issues of concern.
Specifically, nearly 1 in 3 Americans are “extremely concerned” about E. coli in ground beef, with 29 percent extremely concerned about lead, cadmium, and arsenic in baby food, while 27 percent voiced extreme concern about mercury in seafood. Details from the Gallup poll Data for the food safety questions was collected as part of Gallup’s annual Consumption Habits poll, conducted July 1-21.
It showed a record low in Gallup’s trend dating back to 1999. About 57 percent of the U.S.
adults who responded said they have a great deal or a fair amount of confidence in the government’s ability to keep the food supply safe. That’s down 11 percentage points compared to Gallup’s reading in 2019. From 1999 to 2006, roughly 80 percent of Americans believed in the government to ensure food safety.
After the Salmonella outbreak in 2007, that dropped to 70 percent. Americans’ confidence stayed near that level in 2008 and 2019 before dropping this year. One of the largest drops in confidence was seen among parents of young children — 49 percent expr.
