Do Household Attitudes about Food Defense and Food Safety Change Following Highly Visible National Food Recalls?

This article adds to the empirical information on public perceptions of the need for food defense and food safety programs. This article reports results from three large internet surveys of US residents' attitudes and concerns about terrorism in the US. Funded by the National Center for Food Protection and Defense, the surveys were administered by TNS-NFO. Regression analysis was used to identify the socioeconomic characteristics of respondents who chose to devote a higher proportion of antiterrorism spending to food defense programs than to other antiterrorist activities. Separate regressions were run for food defense and safety. Survey responses indicate that, not surprisingly, following the spinach, peanut butter, and pet food recalls, US residents were less confident that the nation's food supply was safe from natural or accidental contamination. The survey results also indicate that concerns over food defense grew over that period.