July 2014
Featured in this insight: Consumer goods & FMCG , Food & drink, International
Survey shows Chinese public not satisfied with the nation’s food safety: A recent study has discovered widespread dissatisfaction among Chinese residents when it comes to the nation’s food safety.
The survey, which was conducted by Horizon Research and HorizonKey, polled 3,166 people aged between 18 and 60 in 20 different cities.
The study found that four fifths (80%) of its respondents were not happy with food safety in China, with food companies (60%) receiving most of the blame. Food industry associations (50%), the government (29%) and the media (26%) also fared poorly with participants in terms of food safety performance.
Furthermore, almost three fifths (58%) of the poll’s respondents said production and processing carried the greatest risk to consumer safety. One quarter (25%) believed planting and breeding posed a hazard, compared to less than one in 10 (8%) who thought wholesalers and retailers carried consumer safety threats and the 6% who voted catering and consumption. 3% of the survey’s respondents declined to answer or had no opinion.
According to Wang Zhutian, assistant director of the China National Centre for Food Safety Risk Assessment, the survey’s findings indicate that the government needs to focus more efforts into holding food companies accountable for any perils they expose their consumers to.
Zhutian went on to state that companies should be faced with more severe punishments to ensure they show greater responsibility when it comes to their food safety.
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