The Food Safety Consumer Confidence Crisis: Why Shoppers Lost Trust in America’s Food Supply, and What Brands Can Do to Regain It
July 31, 2025 | 2 min to read
Concerns about food safety in the U.S. are rising, despite industry claims of improved safety, as evidenced by the jump in food recalls from 330 in 2019 to 578 in 2024. While experts argue that this reflects better detection rather than declining quality, consumer confidence in food safety has hit record lows, according to surveys by Gallup and the International Food Information Council. To rebuild trust, producers must enhance safety practices, visibility, and transparency.
Is the food Americans buy at grocery stores every day safe? If you ask food manufacturers and food safety professionals, you’ll likely get an emphatic yes. Despite an increase in food recalls — 578 in 2024 compared to 330 in 2019 — industry insiders would likely say the food we eat today is safer than at any point in U.S. history. Some experts even point out that the increase in recalls is a good sign: Rather than showing a decline in quality, more recalls demonstrate better detection of food safety risks and more aggressive enforcement [archived link].
But food safety experts don’t buy enough groceries to support the entire food production industry. Most of America’s $1.5 trillion in annual food spending is done by consumers outside the industry, and they have a very different perspective. Surveys by both Gallup and the International Food Information Council (IFIC) show consumer confidence in the safety of their food is down to the lowest levels on record.
To find out why food safety consumer confidence is falling and what this means for brands and producers, we sat down for a conversation with Brian Ronholm, Director of Food Policy for Consumer Reports and former Deputy Under Secretary at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) where he was responsible for oversight of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). The bottom line: To avoid losing sales from increasingly concerned consumers and rebuild trust, producers must apply a combination of stronger food safety practices, improved supply chain visibility, and increased transparency.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: AIB International