Russians,
Asians and Mexicans worry greatly about the safety of
their food supply, but most American and Western Europeans
not only think the food supply is as safe as it was a
decade ago, substantial percentages think it is safer
than it was then.
Consumers in Italy and Spain had the highest level of
confidence in their local food supply, despite highly
publicized BSE and hoof-and-mouth outbreaks in Western
Europe. Half of Italians quizzed by international pollster
and market researcher Ipsos Global Express said that food
was safer today, with another 15 percent saying it was
as safe, while 44 percent of Spanish consumers felt food
had become safer, with another 19 percent seeing no change.
Americans were a bit more lukewarm, with 47 percent saying
the food supply is as safe as it used to be, and another
28 percent saying it is safer.
Consumers in Germany and the U.K. were also generally
confident in local food supplies.
The picture changed sharply in Asian nations, where avian
flu has devastated poultry stocks, and even more so in
Russia and Mexico. In the latter two countries, nearly
two-thirds of consumers said the food supply had become
less safe. A majority of consumers in China, Japan, South
Korea and Taiwan also felt food had become less safe.
On the whole, women were less trusting of the food supply
than were men, and older consumers were less trusting
than younger ones, the study found.
Ipsos conducted the study in May and June of this year,
and notes that samples in China, Mexico and Russia were
gathered from urban areas only.
