Irish and European consumer views on food safety

Results from two consumer surveys are presented. In the first, a EU FAIR (E uropean Union Food, Agriculture and Industrial Research Programme), support ed project, three-thousand consumers (500 in each of six countries, Germany , Italy, Britain, Spain, Sweden and Ireland) were surveyed in March 1997 on their attitudes to the quality and safety of three meats, beef, pork and c hicken. This paper deals with the safety aspects of the survey. Many consum ers in all six countries said they were eating less beef and more chicken. Overall, the Spanish and Irish appeared to be the most concerned about the safety of meat, the British were somewhat less concerned. While many were c onfident that the food in shops is safe, there was a sizeable minority who believed the contrary. When looking for information on the safety of meat, butchers, whether independent or in supermarkets, are the group most truste d by consumers. In terms of consumer concerns, about 60 percent of beef con sumers were very concerned about hormones, BSE (Bovine Spongiform encephalo pathy), antibiotics and bacteria. Pork consumers had similar levels of conc ern as beef consumers about bacteria, antibiotics and hormones. For chicken there was a higher level of concern about bacteria (Salmonella) (68% were very concerned) and similar levels of concern to pork and beef for the othe r issues. Generally, fat was the issue of least concern for all three meats . Freshness was considered to be relatively the most helpful of 7 factors u sed for assessing safety of meat. The country of origin and what the animal was fed were also considered to be relatively helpful. Factors considered to be relatively less helpful were price and the name of the producer. In t he second study, over 1200 pre-leaving certificate Irish school children pa rticipated in autumn 1996 in a national survey assessing young people's att itudes to meat. Half of the respondents agreed with the view that eating be ef means increasing the risk of getting CJD (Creutlfeldt-Jakob Disease). Th ose who agreed were more likely to be less frequent eaters of beef and to h ave reduced their meat consumption in the post-BSE period. It was found als o that females were more likely to eat less meat than males and to have red uced beef consumption. The implications of some of the findings of these tw o surveys are discussed.