60% of world population worried about food safety

Most of the world is worried they will be harmed by the food they eat every day (60 per cent). 51 per cent are concerned about the safety of water they drink. A conclusion of the first ever global study of worry and risk across the world (The World Risk Poll), conducted by Gallup as part of its World Poll, based on interviews with over 150,000 people. The data was published on 6 October 2020.

Seventeen per cent of poll respondents experienced serious harm, or know someone who experienced serious harm, caused by the food they ate and 14 per cent, were seriously harmed by the water they drank.

The poll indicates that the burden of food-related diseases is not spread equally across the world and is highly related to economic development levels, with low-income and middle-income countries affected. The greatest levels of harm from food occur in East Africa (29 per cent) and the Middle East (27 per cent ). The top three countries were Liberia (52%), Zambia (51%) and Mozambique (45%). However, the World Risk Poll reveals that in all these regions levels of worry about food are lower than the levels of harm experienced. East Africa (25 per cent) and Middle East (22 per cent). In Southern Africa and Latin America, and the Caribbean, levels of harm experienced from food are high (26 per cent and 22 per cent respectively) but levels of worry are much higher (43 per cent and 33 per cent). The same pattern is repeated for experience of harm and worry about water.

World’s population experiencing serious harm from food

Data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations shows that each year around three million people across the world die as a result of eating tainted food. In addition 600 million people a year fall ill through eating contaminated food, costing the global economy hundreds of billions of dollars. The World Health Organisation estimates that 485,000 people die each year from drinking contaminated water.

48 per cent think that GM foods are high risk

Although the world’s population suffers many problems from the food they currently eat, genetically modified (GM) food is seen as a high risk, 48 per cent of people worldwide think that GM foods will mostly harm. These are predominantly the higher-income countries where GM foods are seen as a safety issue. In lower income countries 42 per cent of people think that GM foods will mostly help.

Trust in government organisations

The World Risk Poll also shows that only 15 per cent of the world’s population trusts government organisations in their countries, preferring information provided by family and friends ( 31 per cent) and medical professionals (22 per cent). This pattern is the same for people who have experienced harm and those who have not experienced it.

wrp.lrfoundation.org.uk