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Study: Many Consumers Ignoring Food Product Recalls

By PritzkerLaw

Most consumers pay attention to food recalls, but only about 60 percent take action by looking for recalled food in their homes, a Rutgers Food Policy Institute study has found.

A news release about the study said 40 percent of consumers who pay a great deal of attention to food recalls also think that the foods they purchase are less likely to be recalled than those purchased by others. They appear to believe that food recalls just don't apply to them, the press release said.

Getting consumers to pay attention to news about recalls "isn't the hard part,'' said Rutgers professor William Hallman, one of the study's authors. "It's getting them to take the step of actually looking for recalled food products in their homes.''

Rutgers said the study was based on a survey of 1,101 Americans interviewed by telephone from Aug. 4 to Sept. 24, 2008.

Nearly 75 percent of those surveyed said they would like to receive personalized information about recalls, through e-mail, for example. About half of Americans say that food recalls have had no impact on their lives.

Full post as published by Food Poisoning Law Blog on April 15, 2009 (boomark / email).