If you’re worried about how safe your food is, you’re not alone. Recent surveys of Brits and Europeans show that how safe the food is, due to bacterial contamination or the presence of foreign objects such as metal or plastic, is one of the top concerns people have when it comes to food.
In an August 2019 survey of 1,000 British consumers by Lloyd’s Register 31% reported that they were more concerned about food safety than they were one year earlier. Given the events that have occurred since that survey, such as the Coronavirus pandemic and Brexit, it would be interesting to know whether more or fewer people are concerned about food safety.
An indication can be found in Kantar’s Eurobarometer study from August and September 2020, in which 27,000 people from across the EU were asked about the characteristics that most influence their decisions when buying food. The respondents were given a list of ten characteristics and asked to select up to three to represent the three most important factors in terms of choosing food. In 24 of the 27 EU countries, food safety was in the top 3 answers given, with 58% of Italians, 55% of Greeks and 51% of Cypriots surveyed stating that food safety was the most important factor to them in terms of characteristics that influence their food buying habits.
These results suggest that food safety is at the forefront of people’s minds since the Coronavirus pandemic. Public awareness of pathogens and how they spread has risen as a consequence of the pandemic, so it comes as no surprise that people are more careful about what food they consume in relation to the risk of contamination by pathogens.
Lloyd’s Register, who carried out the survey of British people suggest that food companies could do more to reassure consumers safety is a priority. As one of our recent blog posts discussed (How Clean is Your Food? – Vitabeam) food contamination by bacteria such as E. coli is an all too familiar occurrence. It seems obvious that organisations throughout the food supply chain should be working to further reduce the risk of food contamination.
Vitabeam wants to work with businesses at all stages of the Farm to Fork process, to minimise the risk to health that food can pose. By implementing Vitabeam technology, food companies can be confident that their produce does not pose a risk to their customers’ safety, and can pass on such reassurances to their customers, improving public opinions about food safety.
It seems particularly important for British to engender positive attitudes towards food and its safety in the post-Brexit era, since Lloyd’s survey showed that more than one in three Brits believe food standards will deteriorate post-Brexit. Therefore, British businesses along the food supply chain have a great opportunity to increase trust in British food by ensuring that food available to British consumers is as safe as possible.
Solutions that can be a part of a more sustainable future should be highly sought after. Subsequently, demand for Vitabeam’s chemical-free, pesticide-free, natural, safe, organic techniques for killing pathogens are a perfect for forward-thinking businesses.
If you would like to know more about how Vitabeam can help you to future-proof your business, please get in touch with us at vitabeam-info@vitabeam.com.