Asked if they trust the safety of the food they buy in stores or restaurants, 74% of St. Louis adults surveyed say they “mostly trust it,” and 9% say they “trust it completely.” About 12% said they “mostly do not trust it,” and 5% said they “don’t trust it at all.”
Trust in food safety differs by race and sex
Among 248 survey respondents in St. Louis and Omaha, NE, trust in food safety varied greatly by race. Trust was highest among White respondents (94%) and lowest among African American or Black respondents (69%); trust was also higher among Hispanic respondents (84%). Men were more likely than women to trust the safety of foods they buy (96% vs. 75%).
Food safety recalls: Who hears about them?
Most respondents, 79%, reported hearing about at least one food safety recall in the last 30 days, and 60% of respondents said they’d heard about two or more food safety recalls in that time period. White respondents (88%) were more likely than Black or Hispanic respondents (both 74%) to have heard about at least a food safety recall in the last 30 days, as were those ages 50 years and older compared to younger adults, 18-29 (88% vs 64%).
When you hear about a food safety recall, what do you do?
Survey respondents who heard about at least one food safety recall in the last 30 days were asked what they do first when hearing about a recall. The most common response – expressed by 62% of respondents – was checking to see if foods they had purchased had been recalled. Other responses included learning more about the recall (14%) or throwing out food (8%).
Are food safety recalls becoming more common?
Almost two-thirds of adults surveyed (63%) thought food recalls were becoming more common than in past years. Only 6% thought they were becoming less common, and 32% thought they were about the same. Women were more likely than men to think food safety recalls were becoming more common (68% vs. 47%), as were those over age 40 compared to those under age 40 (71% vs. 55%), and Black adults (71%) vs. Whites (61%) or Hispanics (58%). The number of food recalls has been rising since the COVID-19 pandemic, possibly due to improvements in detecting outbreaks, labor shortages for food producers, and/or large-scale food production.
What do you think?
Please share the assets below to help St. Louisans start conversations about food safety.
Survey information
This week’s report is based on a survey of 248 adult residents in St. Louis, MO (n = 165) and Omaha, NE (n = 83) conducted on November 2-4, 2024. Explore these data and more at iHeardSTL.
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