Dioxin scandal majority no longer has confidence

After dioxin scandal: majority of Germans have no confidence in food controls. A quarter of all consumers are increasingly turning to organic products.

24.01.2011

Fewer and fewer people in Germany place their trust in official food controls. Only a minority of consumers believe that controls are sufficient to exclude harmful residues in food. Only 27 percent said in a recent survey that food is adequately screened for pesticide residues by authorities.

Trust visibly sunk
Consumer confidence has fallen in the visible area after the dioxin scandals. According to a study by the Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung (GfK), even last autumn significantly more people trusted than they did this year. Specifically for the study, a total of 1004 women and men were interviewed by telephone. About one third of all respondents said they were critical of the authorities' controls. Consumers over the age of 50 and respondents of higher education levels were particularly skeptical. There were also differences in results between the new and old federal states. People in the East were much more critical of food industry controls than Westerners.

A quarter of consumers rely on organic products
A quarter of respondents said they now switch to organic eggs and organic meats. Especially older respondents with a higher education showed a high affinity to organic products. Although organic products are much more cost-intensive, consumers with lower incomes are also increasingly seeking to switch to organic products. 32 percent of the lower income groups (less than 1000 euros net per month) only use organic meat and organic eggs in the supermarket.

Little trust in restaurants and snack bars
Confidence in restaurants, bakeries and snack bars is also not very strong. According to the results of the study, just 35 percent of consumers are convinced that the suppliers processed only unencumbered eggs and meat products. Especially many young people were less critical and showed greater confidence overall. The proportion of secondary school graduates is also less worried. Overall, people were more critical, especially in the big cities.

Organic industry on the rise
In fact, the organic industry is currently experiencing a veritable boom. In some cases organic eggs are sold out in the markets. According to a study by the University of Bonn, the boom is by no means a snapshot due to the dioxin scandal. Researchers have seen a steady upward trend in the organic sales market since 2000. Between 2000 and 2009, sales increased by 180 percent. Above all, higher earners are increasingly turning to organic products. Experts believe that the pollutant scandal will give organic growers higher sales increases.

Harsher controls announced
Due to the dioxin scandal, the 27 European Ministers of Agriculture agreed today to carry out stricter controls in the future, especially with feed manufacturers. EU agricultural commissioner Dacian Ciolos will prepare a proposal by next week. The goal is, for example, to better coordinate the monitoring of fat manufacturers. In the future, manufacturers of fats should severely separate industrial fats with animal fats. In addition, within the EU the early warning system for dioxin should be improved. If laboratories of companies prove that dioxins are present in feed or food, they should in future be required by law to notify the find in good time. (Sb)

Also read:
Antibiotic detected in feed
Dioxin burden apparently known for months
Health risk from dioxin eggs
Organic industry benefits from the dioxin scandal
Detecting dioxin eggs in the supermarket

Picture: Halina Zaremba