Results of a National Survey on Produce Safety

QUICK SUMMARY

A national survey of likely voters conducted for the Produce Safety Project, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts at Georgetown University, finds that the American voting public has significant concerns about produce safety. Voters believe that the federal government and food packagers bear the greatest responsibility for ensuring that produce is safe, and they say that neither group is doing a good job in this regard. Thus it is not surprising that most voters—across the demographic and ideological spectrums—wish to see the produce safety system significantly reformed, supporting new safety requirements even if they increase the cost of produce.

This memorandum outlines the key findings from this survey, including:

• Voters see produce safety as a serious problem, and many say they are worried about bacterial contamination in the produce they serve to their family.
• Voters say the federal government and produce packagers bear the primary responsibility for produce safety, and that both groups are falling down on the job.
• A large majority of voters favor new produce safety regulations—even if it increases the price of produce—and when they hear details of the current produce safety system voters say major changes are in order.

Download the PDF to see key findings from the survey and click here (PDF) for top line survey results.