Consumers worry about food safety, survey finds

http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/thestew/2008/06/consumers-worry.html

Posted by Carol Mighton Haddix at 12:10 p.m. CDT

Missing your tomatoes? You are not alone. The FDA still is working on tracing the source of the recent salmonella outbreak in round, plum and Roma tomatoes. In the meantime, consumers have to make due with cherry or grape tomatoes or tomatoes with part of the vine still attached. After this outbreak and last year's spinach contamination, it's little wonder that shoppers are uneasy about their food these days.

Well more than half of Americans (57 percent) say they have stopped eating a particular food, temporarily or permanently, as a result of a recent recall, according to a new survey of more than 1,000 people by Deloitte Consulting. Here are more findings from the survey:

* 76 percent of those surveyed are more concerned about the foods they eat than they were five years ago.
* Over half of Americans (56 percent) say they think imported foods are “not at all” or only “somewhat” safe.
* In contrast, 80 percent of Americans say they believe that domestically produced foods are safe.
* Concerns are especially high around recalls of meat products, with 78 percent of consumers most concerned by beef recalls (78 percent) followed by chicken recalls (67 percent).
* Nearly 9 out of 10 Americans (89 percent) would like to see food stores sell more fruits and vegetables that come from local farms, and well over two-thirds (69 percent) said they would pay slightly more for such produce.