Food Safety Pays

Food-borne diseases are a worldwide problem and rising issues concerning the safety of food in India has made the locals wary of the food that they buy. According to the Nielsen Global Online Survey, 97% of the Indians respondents consider safety of food an important factor in deciding where they shop and 73% are confident in the safety of the food that they purchase from their local store.

The Nielsen Global Online Survey was conducted between September 28 and October 16 last year. It polled over 30,500 consumers in 54 countries in Europe, Asia Pacific, North America and the Middle East. The sample was based on the age and gender of the Internet users of each country.

From the survey, India along with Ukraine is the second most willing nation to pay a premium for food that is safe (85%). Saudi Arabia and the Philippines take the lead with 86%.

More than six in 10 Indians think that food manufacturers have the main responsibility for providing them with safe food, followed by the local government (30%) and retailers (8%).

However, Indians trust their government the most when a food safety scare arises (32%). With 29%, food manufacturers are the second most trusted entity followed by the media (26%) and retailers (13%). “Food contamination is a problem that Indians face. Food supply in India is often fragmented and it involves numerous middlemen, which exposes it to various types of fraudulent practices. In such conditions, Indians are very careful of where they make purchases from and most of them rely on the manufacturers they trust. The retailers are not seen as the prima donna in India, the manufacturers are,” says Biswarup Banerjee, associate director, marketing communications, South Asia, The Nielsen Company.

Nearly nine in 10 Indians (86%) believe that they are responsible for the safety of food they consume at home. This is higher than the global average of 75%. More than half of the Indian consumers (53%) will not eat food that has crossed its best before date even if it looks and smells normal.

From a survey, India along with Ukraine is the second most willing nation to pay a premium for food that is safe.

• Going local and organic

About 73% of Indians agree that certain countries provide safer food than others. However, 65% of the respondents agree that food grown in the country is safer than imported food. About 42% said they would try to actively buy locally made products; 23% would buy products that have not travelled long distances to get to the store and 69% would vouch for organic food and agree that it is safer than conventionally produced food. Globally, 51% of consumers agree with this belief. Indians also top global ranking in their belief that genetically modified products are safe (32%) while 18% of consumers surveyed globally believe so.

According to the report, more than four in 10 Indians primarily buy locally made products in order to support the local farmer or producer. About 19% of Indians surveyed think local products are better for them and their family’s health and 17% think it is better for the environment.

To some extent, the reasons for buying organic products are similar to that of buying local products. About 37% of Indians think it is better for them and their family to buy organic produce; 26% consider organic food to be better for the environment; 15% buy the organic products due to the little or no use of pesticides.

“Mera Bharat Mahan is a belief that Indians strongly abide by when it comes to food. Primarily an agricultural country, Indians trust locally available products. However, increasing globalization has got them interested in organic and imported products as well,” said Banerjee.

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