FMI consumer trends 2007: confidence in food safety down.

Foodborne illness outbreaks and high energy costs are significantly changing consumer shopping behavior and attitudes, according to the Food Marketing Institute's (FMI) U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends, 2007, released recently.

The number of consumers "completely" or "somewhat confident" in the safety of supermarket food declined from 82% in 2006 to 66%--the lowest point since 1989 when the issues of pesticides in apples and contaminated grapes were widely reported. Consumer confidence in restaurant food is even lower at 43%.

The Trends survey found that safety concerns prompted 38% of consumers to stop purchasing certain foods in the past 12 months--up from 9% in 2006. Among products people stopped buying, beef ranked among the top four: spinach (71%), lettuce (16%), bagged salad (9%) and beef (8%). The survey was conducted in January 2007, when the outbreak linked to spinach was still in the news and illnesses associated with other foods were starting to make headlines.

High fuel and home-heating costs are driving other changes in shopping for 41% of consumers. In fact, the impact extends beyond shopping to cooking and dining. For example, consumers:

* Cook more and eat out less, cited by 69% of those surveyed.

* Eat more leftovers or use leftovers to make other meals, 62%.

Cost and health concerns are behind the increase in people cooking more meals. Nearly eight in 10 shoppers (78%) eat home-cooked meals three or more times a week. More than nine in 10 (92%) say the food they eat at home is healthier than the meals eaten away from home. This figure includes 41% who believe food prepared at home is "much healthier."