Essay About Beef Safety And Fresh Beef Steaks

Beef Customer Satisfaction
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NOVEMBER – DECEMBER 2004 ISSUES UPDATE 45 I S S U E S
UPDATE
2 0 0 4
by Rick McCarty
Executive Director, Issues Management Ж NCBA
Summary
The checkoff-funded beef safety tracking survey conducted
in November 2004 found that fresh beef steaks/roasts remained
the protein with the highest consumer confidence in safety. The
survey asks consumers to give grades to foods for being safe to
eat and 76 percent of survey respondents gave steak/roast an A
or B for safety.
Background
The beef safety tracking surveys are quarterly telephone
surveys of a national, random sample of U.S. adults.
Vegetarians do not answer the survey. The margin of error for
survey data is plus/minus 3.2 percent.
General food safety
The percentage of Americans giving U.S. food in general an
A or B for safety has remained relatively stable with some small
fluctuations in the past year. However, this survey found the
percentage of A/B grades (70%) significantly lower than in
November 2003 (74%) and at the lowest score since November
2002 (69%). The November 2004 score is much lower than the
77 percent measured during the last survey in May 2004.
Safety of specific fresh foods
The safety ratings for specific fresh foods remained stable
during the past year with no significant differences in the
ratings in November 2004. Fresh fruits and vegetables are
consistently at the top of the list when it comes to safety grades
given to specific fresh foods one might buy in a grocery store.
Fresh beef steaks and roasts receive the highest meat product
safety grade (76%).
Tied for second place with 70 percent of consumers grading
A or B were fresh pork chops and microwaveable foods. Foods
with lower consumer safety grades were fresh ground beef
(64%), fresh chicken (63%), fresh fish (60%), fresh ground pork
(56%) and pre-prepared foods from the deli (52%).
Specific concerns regarding food safety
The safety tracking survey asks consumers to rate their level
of concern about specific safety issues on a 5-point scale, with
one being not concerned and five being extremely concerned.
The percentage of “top two” scores (4-5 ratings on the scale)
indicate the issues of greatest concern.
Safety issues tend not to be top of mind with consumers,
evidenced by the fact that safety issues barely register when
consumers state reasons for eating less beef. However, when
asked to think about specific safety concerns, bacteria (62%)
and pesticides (62%) top the list. Consumer concerns about
chemical additives (58%) and mad cow disease (57%) make up
a second tier of safety concerns. Concerns about mad cow
disease did not increase significantly as a result of the first U.S.
case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in December
2003, and in fact, currently are significantly lower than the 61
percent concern level measured in November 2003.
Other issues rated as lower concerns include hormones
(50%), genetically modified foods (46%), antibiotics