A Multi-Pronged Approach Can Earn Consumer Trust in Food Safety

In a world where social media influencers and sensationalistic media sometimes promote conflicting and confusing information, how can the food science community foster public trust in the safety of their food?

Putting consumer concerns front and center while explaining food safety methods and practices to them in plain language can go a long way, a panel of experts discussing "Building Trust in Food Safety," on the main stage at IFT FIRST on Monday agreed.

Moderator Brendan A. Niemira, IFT chief science and technology officer, engaged the following panelists to explore this issue: Andrew Bremer, director, Office of Nutrition Research at the National Institutes of Health; Angela Odoms-Young, associate professor, Cornell University; Anupama Joshi, vice president of programs, Center for Science in the Public Interest; Tia M. Rains, vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs, Coca-Cola; and Mary Ellen Camire, professor of food science and human nutrition, University of Maine School of Food and Agriculture.

"The United States has one of the safest food supplies in the world—so we're doing something right," said Rains. "But if you ask consumers what their level of trust is with our institutions that govern food safety, the FDA, the USDA, it is very low. That's where the problem lies ... there's a gap between what's happening and what consumers understand."

For people to trust science, "we really have to be on message," said Odoms-Young. "We used to think ... we're in an ivory tower. We're just going to come up with the questions. But [now] there's a big focus on really engaging the public in our work."

Trust begins with transparency, said Joshi. Scientists reporting on the methods that they've used as well as the potential conflicts of interest in the work that they're carrying out gives consumers information they need to make sound judgements, she added.

Collaboration is another vital part of the trust-building process, said Bremer. "Every partner in this space of food, which is tremendously large ... from the farmer to the schools to the school chefs, to the kiddos," has questions they want answered, he observed. "We learn from each other what those important questions are."

Right now, there are many questions surrounding ultra-processed food and its health impacts, Bremer continued. "What are the appropriate questions to ask? What is the missing data that can help [people] learn about health outcomes?"

It's important to involve and educate the media in service of this quest to inform and reassure the public, because the glut of information out there can be confusing, said Camire. "We see all these examples: There's a scientific paper that's published, but the media turns it into sensational headlines that don't really apply to the research at all, and people get the wrong message. Consumers are getting their information from traditional news outlets [so it would] help to have the TV, radio, and newspapers providing really accurate information based on what we know today."

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