Source:  Dani Friedland, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 7/28/10

A new national survey by Thomson Reuters for NPR has found that, among consumers who are concerned about contamination of the food supply, they are most concerned about meat contamination.

The survey found that 61 percent of respondents are concerned about contamination of the food supply as a whole, according to NPR, leaving 39 percent who said they were not concerned about contamination of any kind.

A slim majority of the worried respondents (51 percent) said they are most worried about meat.  By comparison, 25 percent of those concerned about contamination worried most about seafood, 23 percent worried most about produce and 4 percent worried most about dairy products.

When asked how to fix the situation, more people suggested that food companies improve quality control than those who wanted additional inspections, oversight or penalties.

More than a third of respondents said they have become increasingly concerned about seafood over the last three months, which is roughly the same period of time oil has been flowing into the Gulf of Mexico from the damaged BP well.

In all, more than 3,000 people responded to the survey and 10 percent of them said they have been made ill by something they ate within the last six months. The margin of error is plus or minus 1.8 percent.

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