Food safety fears transform consumer choices

Over half of consumers have stopped eating certain foods, either temporarily or permanently, as a direct result of food safety fears, according to Deloitte.

The survey, commissioned by the firm's consultancy arm, demonstrated how food safety faces ever-growing scrutiny in the US, with highly-publicized food recalls and safety scares from China preying on consumers' minds.

Concern about safety was found to be particularly high in regards to meat products as well as food imported from outside of the States.

"These findings underscore how urgent it is for food manufacturers to do all they can to address the problem of food recalls head-on," said Pat Conroy, Deloitte LLP's vice chairman.

"Over half of consumers say they may drop your product if they believe you are not doing what it takes to protect them and their families."

The survey is particularly timely, given last week's multistate outbreak of the foodborne disease salmonella from red raw tomatoes, which incited the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue a warning to consumers.

Other recent food scares and recalls include spinach grown in California contaminated with E coli in 2006, salmonella-tainted peanut butter caused many people to be hospitalised in February 2007 and in March 2007 contaminated pet food lead to the deaths of a number of animals, probably from contaminants in vegetable proteins imported into the United States from China.

Also last week, Michael Doyle, a US microbiologist, said the trend towards importing more food from developing countries is opening up Western countries to greater food safety risks because of variations in sanitary standards.

He said the responsibility for ensuring that food imported into the country where it is to be consumed should lie with food industry, and not just with regulatory bodies.