The ‘Meat-O-Meter’ is a trend barometer used to regularly illustrate how consumers perceive the safety of meat as a foodstuff in Germany.

Berlin / Leverkusen – “Do you believe that meat is a safe food in Germany today?” This question was put to more than 1,000 German citizens in January 2008 by the market research agency forsa on behalf of Bayer HealthCare AG. The results show that consumer confidence in meat in Germany has risen again slightly. The findings of the representative survey were presented by Bayer HealthCare at the “Day of Responsibility: Animal Health – from the stable to the plate” at the 2008 International Green Week in Berlin.

On a scale of one to ten (1 = completely unsafe, 10 = completely safe) on the ‘Meat-O-Meter’ set up by Bayer HealthCare, the mean rating is now 6.1 (compared with 5.9 in 2007). Around 30 percent of those questioned believe that meat is mainly or completely safe, while some 12 percent stated that they had little or no trust in meat as a foodstuff. “These findings show that winning back consumer trust in this food is a lengthy process,” said Christian Behm, Head of Animal Health at Bayer Vital GmbH. The ‘Meat-O-Meter’ is a trend barometer used to regularly illustrate how consumers perceive the safety of meat as a foodstuff in Germany.

According to those surveyed, abattoir staff and butchers have the greatest influence on meat safety. 37 percent named these occupations, closely followed by food inspectors (32 percent), farmers (25 percent) and the meat-processing industry (24 percent). At the bottom of the list were veterinarians, whom only 11 percent of consumers regard as significant, despite them being responsible for the health of animals and therefore playing a crucial role in the production of healthy food. Bayer HealthCare AG, as one of the leading manufacturers of animal health products, supports various campaigns initiated by the veterinarian community and has launched its own measures to improve public knowledge about the work performed by veterinarians and the necessity of veterinary drug use.

Overall, the results of the survey show that most consumers still know very little about agriculture and therefore have little conception of how their food is produced. “If they knew more, the level of appreciation for farmers and veterinarians, both of whom are intensively involved in promoting animal health and appropriate care, would be much higher,” said Behm. “That’s why it is vital that all those responsible for our food continue to work together to educate consumers about this topic in the future.”

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