(Credit: Mars Global Food Safety Center)
Seventy-three percent of respondents in a new study from Mars say they think Covid-19 will impact the viability of the global supply chain; more than 75% of respondents consider food safety a “top 10” global issue, and more than half (52%) think it is a top three global issue. These consumers say they think about food safety and food security as much as climate change and pollution. And 82% expressed a desire to learn more about food safety.
The issue of food security applies across every step of the supply chain, from “farm to fork,” according to the Mars Global Food Safety Center, a research and training facility opened by Mars in 2015 in Beijing, China. The facility was designed to help tackle today’s food safety challenges across all aspects of the supply chain.
Other concerns among consumers include keeping food safe from toxins and bacteria (60% of respondents) and preventing food fraud (58%).
“New food safety threats, like those posed by Covid-19, are constantly emerging through a combination of factors including global warming, increased globalization of trade, as well aschanges in agriculture practices and food production,” says David Crean, Mars chief science officer and VP of corporate R&D.
The survey, from the Mars Global Food Safety Center, asked more than 1,750 people in the US, UK and China about their opinions concerning significant food security challenges facing global food supply chains, including food safety.