Trust in Nat´l food authorities falls after Covid-19

As Europe recovers from the Covid-19 crisis, a comparative EU study, participated by the University of Helsinki, showed that trust in national food authorities, such as government and food regulators, has fallen, said the University of Helsinki in a press release on Tuesday.

Researchers found that 30% of consumers report a decrease in their trust of food authorities since the pandemic, while only 10% reported an increase.

However, of all countries studied (Finland, Italy, Poland, Spain, UK) studied, Finland shows the least decline in trust into public food authorities as a result of Covid-19.

“Interestingly, at the same time, trust in farmers has increased slightly, whereas the data suggests that trust in retailers and food processors has rather declined, also in Finland,” said Professor Bodo Steiner of University of Helsinki.

The study indicates Finnish consumers are relatively less interested in information on food waste reduction in the supply chain compared to consumers of other EU countries.

As for consuming insect protein the study shows there is the widest and strongest disagreement on consuming insect protein (53%) in all countries.

Cellular agriculture was also something citizens tend to disagree in all European countries (43%).