How important is food safety to American consumers today?
Eighty percent of American consumers tell pollsters they are very concerned about food safety issues while the majority says they are more concerned than they were last year! It’s understandable. We have alarming levels of food poisoning—87 million cases a year—leading to thousands of deaths, hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations. And that’s only the short-term damage. Consumers are becoming more and more aware of the long-term damage—the chronic sickness and illness derived from the cheap food and junk food paradigm. There was a story in the London Times that reports high levels of benzene in soda pop! Nearly every day there is a story regarding mad cow disease, pesticide levels, and toxic chemicals; yet the federal government wants to restrict food labels. Two-thirds of organic consumers say food safety is the primary reason for paying a premium price for organic foods. The natural food and organic food market is growing enormously. Ten cents out of every grocery store dollar is
