Tuesday, September 22, 2009 by Lee Mannering
Poll finds consumers want stronger food safety rules
Among U.S. voters, about nine in 10 support the federal government adopting additional food safety measures, and 64 percent believe that imported foods are often or sometimes unsafe, according to a new Pew poll. Concerns about imported foods reflected a significant jump compared to the 53 percent of voters who expressed such concerns in a similar 2008 survey. Overall, 58 percent of voters are worried about bacterial contamination of the food supply – with about a third of those saying they worry “a great deal.”
After consumer confidence in the food supply was shaken in 2006 following the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to spinach, the following year PMA helped establish the Center for Produce Safety (CPS) at the University of California at Davis. The CPS has been diligently working to bring research and science to bear to help start answering some of our industry’s most critical food safety questions.
During the 2009 PMA Fresh Summit International Convention & Exposition, a workshop titled “Food Safety Innovations: What’s New and What Does It Really Mean?” will look at promising new produce safety research conducted by the CPS and what it means for business, with speakers including CPS Executive Director Bonnie Fernandez-Fenaroli and PMA Chief Science Officer Dr. Bob Whitaker. If you’re going to be in Anaheim at Fresh Summit, this session will be held Saturday, October 3. Don’t miss out – add this workshop to your Outlook calendar today.
Tags: Food Safety