Public Distrust in the Food Industry: Overcoming Challenges
The global food industry has experienced a severe erosion in public trust over the past decade. Highly-publicized accounts of contamination, the fear of genetically-modified ingredients, and failures on the federal level to inspect food products for safety have led to suspicion and outright distrust among the world’s food-buying public. Add to that the consumer interest in natural and sustainable food production practices and one has a recipe for dramatic upheavals within the food industry. Thankfully, the food industry is responding to consumer distrust, implementing changes in the way food products are sourced, made, and distributed to regain consumer confidence. Why the Distrust Among Consumers? In recent years, the food-buying public has become increasingly aware of the role foods play in health. In fact, most industry analysts and food safety advocates believe that foods are far more important for health than any pharmaceutical product. The foods we eat form the foundation of...