CANADIANS AND FOOD SAFETY

Toronto, ON- According to an Ipsos-Reid/CTV/Globe and Mail poll released today, three-quarters (74%) of Canadians say that they are concerned with the safety of the food they eat, nearly half (35% of the total) of whom are "very concerned" about the safety of their food. Four-in-ten (39%) Canadians say that they are "somewhat concerned" with the safety of the food they eat, while 16 percent are "not really concerned". Just one-in-ten (10%) Canadians indicate being "not at all concerned" about the safety of the food they eat.

• Concerns about food safety are highest in Atlantic Canada (83%) and lowest in Saskatchewan/Manitoba (69%).
• Canadians 55 and older (77%) are more concerned with the safety of the food they eat than 18 to 34 year olds (69%).

When asked to name where in the five steps of the food supply chain they feel there is the greatest chance for a food safety problem to develop, Canadians who are "very concerned" (35%) or "somewhat concerned" (39%) say it is during the "processing of foods". Fewer Canadians say it is in restaurants or other food service outlets (21%), 18 percent say it is at the farm level, followed by the grocery store (12%) and in the home (7%).

• Regionally, respondents from Quebec (33%) are least likely to suggest it's a problem at the processing stage, and are more likely to say the retail or grocery store level (22%).

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/CTV/Globe and Mail poll conducted between September 25th and September 27th, 2001. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1,000 adult Canadians. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadians population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 1996 Census data

To view the complete media release, please download the PDF file.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:
John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Public Affairs
Ipsos-Reid
(416) 324-2900