ANN ARBOR, Mich. and WASHINGTON, Sept., 2011 /PRNewswire

Consumer concern about food safety has declined over the past year even as the number of people experiencing serious food-borne illnesses nearly doubled, according to the Thomson Reuters-NPR Health Poll.

Thomson Reuters and NPR developed the monthly poll to gauge attitudes and opinions on a wide range of health issues. The topic of food safety was first addressed in July 2010.  Survey respondents were asked the same questions in 2011 to chart changes in sentiment.

This latest survey in the series found 57 percent of consumers were concerned with the safety of their food, down from 61 percent a year ago. At the same time, nearly twice as many respondents reported that they recently contracted a serious food-related illness. Among respondents who contracted a food-borne illness in the last three months, 22 percent said it was serious — up from 12 percent in 2010. Lower income appears to be a significant factor in food safety concerns: 68 percent of respondents who earn less than $25,000 per year were concerned with the safety of their food.

Executive Summary

The survey, repeated from 2010, asked respondents about the safety of the country’s food supply. Paradoxically, the poll found less concern than it did a year ago, even though the number of respondents who reported suffering from a serious food-borne illness nearly doubled.

• Among those polled, the majority (57.4%) said they are concerned about the safety of food — a decline from  the 2010 level of 61.2%.

• 10.7% of respondents said they are not at all concerned with the safety of their food, up from 6.6% in 2010.

• 11.2% of those polled said they had become sick from something they ate in the last three months, up from 10.5% in 2010. Respondents 65 years or older became ill the least, with only 4.5% reporting a food-derived  sickness in 2011.

• The severity of food illness increased from 2010. A year ago, 12.1% of respondents said they became seriously ill due to something they ate. That number climbed to 21.5% in 2011.

• Meat generated more concern than any other type of food:  44.1% of those polled said they had concerns over the safety of meat, followed by fresh produce (30.2%), seafood (20.1%), and dairy products (5.5%).

• Socio-economics appear to play a role in food safety concerns: 53% of respondents who earn less than $25,000 per year were very concerned with the safety of their food. This far outweighs the level of concern among respondents with higher income.

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