Developed in the late 1940s, the Consumer Sentiment Index measures financial confidence across the country allowing understanding and forecasting of changes in the national economy. The food confidence index is intended to work in much the same way, but focuses on consumer perception of accidental contamination of the food supply, as well as how well defended it is against deliberate contamination by acts of terrorism.
Director of the university’s Food Industry Center Jean Kinsey told FoodNavigator-USA.com: “The index is certainly important for the food industry itself. Industry has an interest to clean up its act. There is undoubtedly going to be change in the FDA food safety regulation and I think this information will form part of that.”
Food confidence at new low
The most recent data collected by the university’s Food Industry Center showed that consumer confidence in the safety of the US food supply has dropped sharply in the wake of the current salmonella outbreak, with fewer than one in five now saying that they feel the supply is safer now than a year ago.
With only 22.5 percent saying that the nation’s food supply has become safer, confidence in American food is the lowest it has been since the study began in May 2008.
Kinsey said this drop is related to the nationwide salmonella outbreak caused by tainted peanut products from a Georgia processing facility, which has sickened 654 people so far and has been linked to nine deaths.
The researchers reported that there was a similar slump in consumer confidence following a salmonella outbreak in June last year, which sickened 1,500 people and was eventually linked to jalapenos.
Continuous tracking
The results are based on an ongoing online survey which takes approximately 175 people across the nation each week and asks them around 40 questions to ascertain their perception of food supply safety.
Kinsey said: “I think it’s important to have a continuous monitoring of the food system. Most studies are a snapshot. There is no tracking of how food-borne illness affects confidence in the food system and also how swiftly it comes back.”
She also pointed out that although it takes about a year to fully understand the impact of a product recall on consumer confidence, the researchers are also tracking the sales of recalled foods, like peanut butter, allowing them to release composite data.
The University of Minnesota is conducting the study jointly with the Louisiana State University AgCenter, and is funded by the National Center for Food Protection and Defense.