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Food safety and the New Zealand public 2007 survey

2 Summary of Key Findings

2.1 Summary of changes between 2005 and 2007

• The numbers show a marginal decline since 2005 in declared levels of interest in the issue of food safety. Although New Zealanders have become a little less likely to say that food safety in New Zealand has improved, they have also become marginally less likely to feel concerned about the issue. Generally the changes are small, although by and large they represent a continuation of trends identified in movements between the 2003 and 2005 surveys.

• Concern about the safety of several types of food (takeaways, eggs and cheese) declined by 4% or more, while concern about none of the types of food tested increased by more than 2% on this question. Similarly, declared concern about food from specific places was more likely to fall slightly than to rise.

There was, however, a statistically significant increase in the proportion saying that they were concerned about antibiotics in meat.

• There has been a substantial growth in the number reporting experiencing food related illnesses, although the limited movements in other numbers suggests that this is likely to be substantially due to the change in wording (at NZFSA’s request) from ‘food poisoning’ to ‘food related illness’.

• The proportion of New Zealanders saying that they are likely to study ingredient labels rose to 58%, and is now 10% higher than it was in 2003.

• New Zealanders have become less open to the idea of having food safety regulations at fundraising events, a movement that is likely to have been driven by wider concerns about ‘political correctness’ as epitomised by the so-called ‘anti-smacking bill’. On the other hand, many of those who oppose regulating food safety at fundraising events also argue that they would expect such events to have the same level of food safety as commercial outlets.

• Declared awareness of the NZFSA rose, although most feel that they do not know a great deal about it.

2.2 Levels of interest in and knowledge of food safety

• 53% of New Zealanders claimed to be interested in food safety issues (down 4%), while 62% said that they would be interested in getting information on the topic (down 4%)

• 60% claimed that they knew a lot or a fair amount about food safety issues, up 1% since 2005

2.3 Confidence in food safety standards

• 53% of New Zealanders said that food safety standards had got better over the last few years (down 3%), while 21% believed that they had become worse (up 1%)

• 43% believed that food safety standards in New Zealand were better than in other Western countries (up 2%)

2.4 Concern about food safety issues

• 43% were concerned about food safety issues, down 3% since 2005.

• In terms of food types, respondents were again most likely to say that they were concerned about chicken (85%), shellfish (77%) and food displayed in warming ovens (76%). Concern about most of the different food outlets we tested was fairly even, although the two creating the most concern were buffets/ smorgasbords and mobile food outlets (both 58% concerned). 30% said that they were concerned about food safety at farmers markets, a new addition for the 2007 survey and the lowest on the list. In terms of potential causes of food related illnesses, respondents were most concerned about salmonella (77%), antibiotics in meat (67%) and campylobacter (63%), which was a new addition for the 2007 research. 54% said that they were concerned about food from cloned animals, the other new issue tested

• Food safety messages about handling chicken seem to have gotten through, with 95% of respondents saying that they knew to take special care when cooking chicken and 90% claiming that they always checked that chicken had been cooked properly before they ate it.

• Similarly, healthy majorities claimed that they followed specific good home food safety practices, with almost 9 out of 10 declaring that they checked best before dates and observed the ‘four Cs’

• Having said that, 55% agreed with the contention that ‘obesity is our biggest food safety problem’, which given the fact that obesity is clearly very different from the other issues tested (many of which relate to food related illnesses) is a substantial proportion

• There was solid support for labelling initiatives such as encouraging food outlets to display their hygiene ratings and product quality labels such as ‘SPCA approved eggs’

2.5 Food related illnesses

• At the request of NZFSA, we changed previous questions about food poisoning to refer instead to food related illnesses. This change resulted in a 10% rise in the proportion agreeing with the statement ‘a little bit of food related illness every now and then is good as it builds your immunity’, although the proportion who agreed with it remained low (19%)

• 29% of respondents claimed that they had experienced food related illness over the past two years, three quarters of whom reported that they contracted it outside their home. As in previous years, two thirds of these respondents said that they did not report it to anyone

• Around half the respondents in our survey claimed that they had witnessed poor food safety practices in food outlets over the previous two years. Asked to describe these poor practices, participants were most likely to mention unclean preparation or serving environments, lack of gloves and poor food storage/ preparation

2.6 Food safety monitoring

• 36% of respondents declared that they were confident about the way food safety standards were enforced in New Zealand, although this seemed largely driven by lack of knowledge rather than negative experiences.

When asked in an unprompted open-ended question who was responsible for food safety standards in New Zealand, only 13% of New Zealanders mentioned the NZFSA by name. On a prompted question, 81% claimed that they had heard of the NZFSA, but over three quarters of these respondents said that they knew ‘not that much’ or ‘hardly anything’ about it.

2.7 Raw milk cheeses

• A plurality of respondents oppose allowing the sale of raw milk cheeses in New Zealand, although opinions on this issue were divided. It does not at this point have the feel of an issue with a great deal of heat in it, particularly as it may well have been the first time many respondents had heard of this proposal or of the distinction between traditional New Zealand cheeses and those made from raw milk.

At the same time, the proportion who were strongly opposed to it was reasonably substantial (27%) and does suggest that a campaign against raw milk cheeses could have some grounds to start from.

2.8 Wild foods

• 23% of our sample said that they either hunted, fished or otherwise gathered food from the wild, with males, Māori and blue collar workers being particularly likely to fall into this category

• Interest in receiving information on the safety of wild foods was only moderate, with 45% saying that they were interested and 41% that they were not. The preferred sources of information amongst those who were interested in receiving it were articles/ advertisements in daily newspapers, an official website and articles/ advertisements in hunting and fishing magazines