U.S. consumers have greater faith in activists and retail grocers than either government or food companies when it comes to providing information about food choices. That's according to a new GfK Roper Public Affairs and Media survey commissioned by Morgan&Myers (http://www.worldcomgroup.com/index1.cfm), the world's leading network of independently owned public relations consulting firms.
Retail grocers also ranked highly (62 percent) and food manufacturers ranked third (53 percent). With consumers split at 47 percent, the U.S. government ranked fourth, ahead only of fast
food companies (26 percent).
"These results support the idea that activists may have been successful in dominating discussions about food policy, and possibly engaging effectively with the important Influentials
audience," says Bob Giblin, a senior public relations counselor and research director who tracks food and agricultural issues for Morgan&Myers (http://www.worldcomgroup.com/index1.cfm) poll. Only
half (50 percent) of consumers are confident in the adequacy of food safety regulations, ranking well below automobiles (83 percent), consumer electronics (80 percent) and clothing (77
percent), and slightly below pharmaceuticals (51 percent). The only category food safety ranked above was toys (37 percent).
Ground beef and toys were subjects of highly publicized recalls in the past year. Only 46 percent of Americans feel the government has adequate food safety regulations for meat (i.e.,
beef, pork and poultry), and 48 percent for seafood. Breads, cereals and grain products rated highest (65 percent), followed by fruits and vegetables (58 percent), and dairy products (57
percent).
"The United States has the safest, most heavily regulated food supply in the world. Still, consumers seem to lack confidence even though our food system proves itself to be reliable and
safe, day-after-day, with very few exceptions," says Beth Witherspoon, MPH, RD, a Morgan&Myers public relations counselor specializing in food and nutrition. "Confidence in food
safety and the food supply are important for Americans to ensure a healthy and balanced diet. When people lack confidence, they eliminate entire classes of food from their diets, which
may prevent them from getting a varied diet that contributes to overall health and wellness."
About the Survey
Findings cited in this release are from a national random digit dial (RDD) telephone survey of 1,009 adults (18 ) in the contiguous United States. All interviews were conducted from
November 16-18, 2007. Findings for the total sample are projectable to the American adult population within a /-3 margin of error, on average, at the 95 percent confidence level. The
survey was conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media on behalf of The Worldcom Group and Morgan&Myers.
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