Consumer food safety survey: halo effect for local produce

It's a sore subject with marketers, but a recent consumer survey examines the residual effects of repeated recalls and alerts about food. This story from Food Product Design points out that the appeal of local produce, a "halo effect" that extends to food safety perceptions. From the story:

According to a recent survey by Deloitte, New York, food safety fears have escalated of late, causing consumers to stop eating specific foods and highlighting the need for the industry to renew their fears about imported and domestic foods. Among the survey’s findings:

• Over half of Americans (57%) have stopped eating a particular food, temporarily or permanently, as a result of a recent recall;
• Three-fourths of Americans (73%) believe the number of food-related recalls has increased in the past year, while 76% are more concerned about the foods they eat than they were five years ago;
• Over three-fourths of consumers are most concerned by beef recalls (78%), followed by chicken recalls (67%), fresh fruit and vegetable recalls (53%), and dairy recalls (53%);
• One-third of consumers (33%) think fresh fish is “not at all” or “somewhat” safe.

Despite these specific concerns, 80% of Americans say they believe that domestically produced foods are safe, while more than half (56%) think imported foods are “not at all” or only “somewhat” safe.

The survey found that nearly 9 out of 10 Americans (89%) would like to see food stores sell more fruits and vegetables that come from local farms, and well over two-thirds (69%) said they would pay slightly more for such produce.