Canadian consumers maintain a strong belief in the safety of Canadian food, despite a year troubled by BSE in the cattle industry and avian influenza in British Columbia’s chicken industry, according to a May public opinion survey paid for by the Canadian Egg Marketing Agency.
As many as 91 percent of consumers polled by Decima Research Inc. said they are confident about the safety and quality of the Canadian food supply, said Woodville, N.S., egg producer Peter Clarke.
“We have been through BSE and avian flu and yet consumers remain as confident of the food system as they were two years ago,” Clarke said.
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“For me personally, it demonstrates that even though we have had food safety crises, consumers think we are a group to be trusted.”
This latest survey was compared to one done two years ago before BSE and avian flu. Consumer support levels were similar and Clarke said the latest evidence of consumer confidence was “a great relief.”
In the survey of 2,000 Canadians, more than 17 percent said they are eating fewer eggs than a few years ago. Many cited health reasons and a few mentioned avian flu fears. About the same number said they are eating more eggs.
Clarke said during a national tour to promote the findings that it is a clear indication consumers accept the farm sector argument that food safety systems are an integral part of farming.
“It shows that what we do is working well,” he said. “We always have to look at how to improve, but we have a good understanding now.”
Clarke said the highest ratings on food safety came from Saskatchewan and Manitoba at 93 percent and the lowest was in Quebec at close to 88 percent. He said 84 percent of consumer respondents said they trusted the regulatory system to guarantee food safety.
“We have to keep looking at ways to improve but after the year we have had, it is a relief to see the level of consumer confidence has remained so high.”
Meanwhile, in its latest cross-border survey, Dairy Farmers of Canada said Canadian dairy prices remain lower than in the United States despite supply management and the claims of critics that the system keeps Canadian prices too high.
DFC said four different baskets of products were compared and the Canadian basket was between 6.5 percent and 14 percent cheaper.
DFC first vice-president Jacques Laforge from New Brunswick said consumer prices in the U.S. jump quickly when returns to farmers increase but do not fall as quickly when farmgate milk prices fall.
In Canada, prices are more stable.
“This is a significant benefit of supply management,” he said in a statement.
