The folks at the Harris Poll surveyed 2,236 adults online between January 15 and 20, and among the results they found were that 86 percent of U.S. adults say food recalls have them at least somewhat concerned and up to 73 percent of the respondents believe there should be more government oversight in regards to food safety.
Some of the other more interesting results of the poll were: women are more likely than men to indicate being both seriously (31% women, 25% men) and somewhat (61% and 55%, respectively) concerned; they are also more likely than their male counterparts to believe there should be more government oversight in regards to food safety (77% and 69%, respectively).
Another interesting result was that U.S. adults are somewhat divided on the question of whether there have been more health and/or safety prompted food recalls recently than in the past few years (43%), or if their frequency has remained about the same (50%). Few, however, believe things have improved, with only 7% indicating there have been fewer than in the past few years.
The respondents who think there have been more food recalls lately were asked who they hold most responsible for this increase, with the highest percentage by a dramatic margin placing the blame on those responsible for packaging and/or processing food (50%), though the federal government (19%) and those responsible for growing and/or raising food (16%) don't escape this blame.
Over half of U.S. adults (55%) also indicate that if a brand they usually purchase is involved with a recall or safety concern issue, they'll temporarily switch to another brand and then return to the recalled brand once it's safe. But 16% say they'll purchase another brand and never purchase the recalled brand again, and an additional 17% would thereafter avoid any brands made by the recalled product's manufacturer.
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