Consumers Are Confused, Concerned About Food Safety

Consumers now have more concern about the safety of food purchases than ever before. In 2009, nearly one-third (31%) of shoppers stopped purchasing certain food items because of food safety concerns, up 5 percentage points over 2008, according to the U.S. Shopper Trends 2009 report by Food Marketing Institute (FMI). As a consequence, contamination from bacteria/germs tops grocery shoppers’ list of the most important food issues, with 53% categorizing it as a serious health risk. Bovine spongifor…