Food safety worries five in six Japanese

With the source of the gyoza poisoning still to be determined, here’s a timely survey from goo Research in conjunction with the Yomiuri Shimbun into food safety.

Demographics

Towards the end of January 2008, but before the poisoned gyoza scandal broke, 1,089 members of the goo Reseach monitor group completed a private online questionnaire. The age or sex breakdown was not reported.

The full survey would have been interesting to see, but goo Research sadly only reported three questions. An earlier survey from MyVoice on Chinese products provides a useful cross-reference.

Research results

Q1: Do you feel uneasy about food safety? (Sample size=1,089)

Usually feel uneasy (to SQ)	19%
Sometimes feel uneasy (to SQ)	67%
Don’t really feel uneasy	13%
Don’t feel uneasy at all	2%

Q1SQ: Which of the following specific aspects of food safety do you feel uneasy about? (Sample size=933, multiple answer)

Whether the date of manufacture, use-by date, or best before date, etc is correct	69%
Whether there are additives	68%
Whether there are agri-chemical residues	67%
Whether the region of production or labelling is correct	61%
Other	4%

Q2: Which of the following do you strive to do regarding your eating habits ? (Sample size=1,089, multiple answer)

Buy Japanese products as much as possible	69%
Pay attention to the date of manufacture, use-by date, best before date, etc	66%
Buy products with as few additives as possible	51%
Limit use of prepared foods	25%
Limit eating out	16%
Other	3%
Nothing in particular	6%