Consumer confidence in the safety of the U.S. food supply is at an all-time low, according to the findings of a new survey.
The 2025 International Food Information Council (IFIC) Food & Health Survey found that only 55% of Americans are very confident (11%) or somewhat confident (44%) in the safety of the U.S. food supply. This represents a more than 20% drop from the group’s 2012 survey, in which 78% stated that they are either very confident (20%) or somewhat confident (58%) in the safety of the nation’s food supply.
“In recent years, the erosion of confidence has been sharp. For the second consecutive year (70% in 2023, 62% in 2024), overall confidence in the safety of the U.S. food supply is down significantly. For the third straight year, those who report being “very confident” (11%) have decreased significantly (24% in 2022, 17% in 2023, 14% in 2024), approaching the 2016 historical low of 10%,” the survey results state.
The respondents gave a variety of reasons for their reduced confidence in U.S. food safety. The top reason given was a belief that “profit is prioritized over safety,” reported by 59%. More than half of the respondents (54%) said that they don’t believe everyone in the food system is working together to ensure safety, while 46% said they believe the federal government’s regulations on safety are too lax.
In a press release announcing the results of this year’s survey, IFIC President & CEO Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak said, “Americans are clearly asking for more transparency and collaboration across the food system,” adding, “we must meet this moment with credible information, and a renewed commitment to building trust through clear and consistent communication.”
The past two years have seen a flurry of headlines about food safety recalls, including ones affecting major brands that are household names in the U.S. The total number of food safety recalls was actually slightly lower in 2024 than in 2023 (296 versus 313, a drop of 5%), while the number of cases of foodborne illness reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rose from 1,118 in 2023 to 1,392 in 2024. The number of outbreak-related deaths also increased from 8 in 2023 to 19 in 2024.
The survey found that only 28% of Americans reported being unaware if they were affected by a food recall, as opposed to 35% in 2015. In addition, more Americans (23%) now identify foodborne illness from bacteria as the top food safety issue.
Speaking to the Seattle Times, Kris Sollid, IFIC’s senior director for research and consumer insights, said, “what consumers are expressing is that there are too many recalls for them to believe the supply is safe.”
He said that survey respondents reported that more food system transparency is needed, including about the steps food companies are taking to keep the food supply safe and the steps government agencies take to determine if food is safe.
The survey also revealed a shift in the perceived safety of imported foods over recent years.
In the 2025 survey, 32% of respondents said imported foods are less safe than food produced or grown in the U.S., as opposed to 52% in the 2014 survey. Three in ten (30%) said they believe imported foods are as safe as foods produced or grown in the U.S., up 6 points from 2014, the last year the question was asked in the survey.
The survey also found a 9-point increase (3% to 12%) from 2014 in those who believe that imported foods are safer than foods produced or grown in the U.S.
The survey found that a growing percentage of Americans want stronger regulation of food safety (41%) and more transparency about how food companies and government agencies keep food safe. The survey found an increase in the number of respondents who say that understanding how food companies (42%) and the government (41%) ensure food safety would increase their confidence in the safety of the U.S. food supply.
Nearly a third (30%) of respondents said having more information during a food recall would increase their confidence in the food safety system of the U.S.
The survey found that almost half of the respondents who are confident in the safety of the U.S. food supply attribute their confidence to a belief in food system coordination.
Almost half of the respondents (48%) said they believe the federal government and food companies (46%) are committed to food safety, while 43% said they trust grocery stores and food retailers to provide safe food.
The survey results are similar to those of a Gallup poll in September 2024.
The 2024 survey reported that U.S. consumer confidence in food safety had hit historic lows, with 28% of Americans reporting little confidence in the government to keep food safe, and 14% saying they have “none at all.”
The survey also found an 11% drop from 2019 (to 57%) in U.S. adults who have a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence in the ability of the government to keep the food supply safe.
“The drop in confidence could reflect Americans’ recognition of the difficulty in responding to the large number of health threats in the food supply, as well as declining trust in the government in general. Americans’ confidence in the food available at most grocery stores has also deteriorated, which speaks to the challenges that the industry -- and the government -- will face in both keeping food safe and reassuring Americans that it is safe,” Gallup wrote upon release of the survey findings.