UK study: consumers misinformed about food risks

From Food Productiondaily.com (Europe)

A survey of consumer perceptions of food risks in the United Kingdom indicates that many people are misinformed, prompting the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to seek out constructive ways of engaging with the public over concerns.

“The survey, which involved 2,019 adults aged over the age of 16, set out to assess the level of risk that consumers associate with food-related issues and who consumers trust most to provide them with accurate information.”

“Professor Colin Blakemore, chair of the FSA's new committee, expressed concern at the results, which included 90 per cent of people being unnecessarily concerned about eating chicken from a factory contaminated with bird 'flu, and almost a quarter wrongly believing there is little or no risk from drinking raw [un-pasteurized] milk.”

The Survey Found:

Bird Flu
”Contrary to the belief of the 90 per cent [surveyed], the FSA says that there is no evidence that humans can catch bird 'flu from food - and, in any case, proper cooking would kill the disease before it reached the plate.”

Raw milk
”As for raw milk, the FSA said it cannot be guaranteed to be germ-free, no matter how high the hygiene standards.”

GM
”Sixty-five per cent of people said they were concerned about the safety of consuming GM food.”

”The scientific evidence tells us that the GM foods currently available are as safe as their non-GM counterparts, and pose no additional risk to the consumer," said the FSA. It did, however, point out that there is general agreement that GM foods should be labeled to allow for consumer choice.”

Link to FSA General Committee on Science: http://www.food.gov.uk/science/ouradvisors/gacs/

Thank you to William Mitchell College of Law student Brian Adamovich, who prepared this post.