Food Safety

U.S. consumers have spoken on the issue of food safety and the widespread sentiment is clear: give us safer food. Despite rising food prices a surprising two-thirds of U.S. voters are willing to pay more for safer food in the wake of endless reports of food-borne illness outbreaks. The study was commissioned by the Pew Charitable Trust and challenges conventional wisdom that consumers always want cheaper food. The survey indicates that consumers support more funding for the FDA to carry out numerous new food safety practices as dictated by Obama’s recently signed Food Safety Modernization Act.

The act gives the FDA increased authority to heighten safety standards for food manufacturers and produce, strengthen inspection standards of both domestic and imported food, and declare a mandatory recall of contaminated foods. In order to pay for the FDA’s new efforts 70% of survey respondents believed that food companies should contribute $1,000 annually and about three-quarters would pay an additional 1-3% to assist in food safety measures. [UPI]