Third party food safety certification vital for consumers

Friday 26 February 2010

Evidence that food product safety has been verified by a third party certification scheme is more important to consumers than brand name, proof of traceability or government inspection, said new research.

A study by Michigan State University on behalf of risk management company DNV has found that US consumers are both highly aware of food safety issues and strongly prefer to see products labelled as safety certified.

These were some of the conclusions by researchers from the university after surveying a wide cross-section of over 400 consumers from across the US.

"Consumers are not only aware of food safety issues they are actually changing their shopping habits due to food safety concerns," said Dr Chris Peterson, director of the Product Center at MSU. "Nearly half of the consumers we surveyed indicated a change in shopping patterns."

link to website