Majority of North Carolina Voters Support New Government Oversight of Food, Pew-Commissioned Poll Finds

Majority of North Carolina Voters Support New Government Oversight of Food,
Pew-Commissioned Poll Finds

RALEIGH, N.C., Nov. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An overwhelming majority of
North Carolina voters - 89 percent - support food safety legislation that
would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) new authority to ensure the
food Americans eat does not make them sick, according to a new poll
commissioned by the Pew Health Group and conducted by Hart Research and Public
Opinion Strategies.

Support for stronger food protections is high regardless of voters' gender,
income level or political affiliation. The statewide survey of 501 registered
voters, conducted from October 8-10, 2009, has a margin of error of +/- 4.3
percent. Full survey results are available at www.MakeOurFoodSafe.org/.

The overall support for new safety measures follows high-profile outbreaks in
recent years in which pathogens in peanut butter products, pistachios,
peppers, spinach and other food resulted in illness in people across the
country - including deaths of children and elderly citizens. According to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, millions of food-related illnesses
occur annually in the United States, with hundreds of thousands of people
hospitalized and thousands dying as a result.

The survey shows that a majority of North Carolina voters polled (53 percent)
say that bacterial contamination of food worries them, and about half (51
percent) of voters say what they have seen and heard in the last year has made
them less confident in the safety of food sold in the United States.

"Plain and simple, foodborne illness is preventable," said Shelley Hearne,
managing director of the Pew Health Group. "The FDA, which is responsible for
the safety of over 80 percent of the foods we eat, does not have the
fundamental tools or resources it needs to sufficiently protect the public
from dangers in the food supply."

A total of 86 percent of North Carolina voters interviewed believe the federal
government should be responsible for ensuring that food is safe to eat, and 62
percent believe the federal government is doing too little to ensure that
imported food is safe from contamination. The FDA is equipped to inspect about
one percent of the imported products it regulates, according to agency
officials.

Release of the survey comes as the U.S. Senate is expected to consider food
safety legislation that gives the FDA new oversight and enforcement powers.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of the bill in July,
which includes stronger inspection authorities for federal officials when
investigating domestic facilities and imports.

"North Carolina voters want the government to do more to ensure that people do
not get sick from the food on their dinner plates," said Erik D. Olson,
director of food and consumer product safety for the Pew Health Group. "The
take-away message from this is that the public gets it: our antiquated food
safety laws greatly need updating so that Americans can have more confidence
in the food supply."

Pew Health Group

The Pew Health Group is the health and consumer product safety arm of The Pew
Charitable Trusts, a nonprofit organization that applies a rigorous,
analytical approach to improve public policy, inform the public and stimulate
civic life. www.pewtrusts.org/health.

SOURCE Pew Charitable Trusts

Colin Finan, The Pew Charitable Trusts, +1-202-591-6294, cfinan@pewtrusts.org