A survey in Australia and New Zealand revealed that food poisoning was the most important food security problem for consumers in 2024.
The Consumer Insights Standard Food Standards Standards New Zealand (FSANZ) included 1,231 Australian consumers and 884 New Zealanders over the age of 18. The survey includes 42 questions which measure the intentions of trust in the food system, the use and understanding of food labeling, attitudes and behaviors.
The survey revealed that 69% of consumers have confidence in food supply security in Australia and New Zealand. The famous and the producers have remained the most reliable parts while confidence in food retailers and government and public food authorities have decreased.
In total, 54% said that food disease was the best food security problem. However, less than half of consumers still perform certain food safety behaviors when preparing food at home. Wash your hands and keep the cutting boards / knives used for separate raw meats were the most common actions.
Consumers perceive raw meats and seafood as the most risky foods. However, only a minority thinks that eggs are at high risk, although eggs are one of the most common sources of food disease.
Half of consumers would like more information on how to store and prepare foods safely, product labels being the favorite source.
A little more than half of consumers have heard of Fsanz, and a quarter of report knowing at least something about what the agency does. New Zealanders were more likely to be aware of FSANZ compared to the Australians.
Data on food -based foods and reminders
While more than half of consumers remain uncertain about the safety of meat and cultivated / cultivated dairy products, the average level of confidence in these products increased between 2023 and 2024. Consciousness of meat and dairy cultivated by cells has remained stable, 66% and 48%, respectively.
FSANZ recently authorized the use of cells cultivated by cells and food. VOW Group PTY asked for approval to use curls cultivated with other ingredients to make products such as newspapers, rolls and pancakes. FSANZ concluded that the product was safe for human consumption. The cellular cell line has proven to be genetically stable and the microbiological risks can be managed by established food safety controls.
In total, 37% of the participants remembered a food reminder in the last 12 months. This is down 47% in 2023. FSANZ said that this could reflect the lower number of reminders in 2023/2024 compared to 93 and two national incidents in 2022/2023.
FSANZ coordinated 95 food reminders in 2024, an increase of 16% compared to 2023. Unclacious allergens remained the main cause with 54 reminders, mainly due to labeling errors, with the most involved milk and gluten. The problems were mainly detected by consumer complaints and routine tests by the company.
Microbial contamination and foreign materials caused nine and 14 reminders respectively, as microbial alerts decreased after increasing in previous years. The mixed and processed foods were the most frequently recalled product category.
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