Despite the recent outbreak, BSE still tops Britain's food safety concerns. The findings on food safety issues, following the recent Foot & Mouth problem, shows that some 58% of consumers are still most concerned about BSE/Mad Cow Disease. Concern over this problem continues to rise - increasing from just over a third of adults in 1999. Second on the list of food safety issues is salmonella, with 46% of adults worrying about this form of food poisoning. Foot & Mouth trails behind food poisoning in general, and E-coli, each of which is in the forefront of 37% of adult’s minds.

The data also shows that concerns over GM foods peaked to 50% of adults in the summer of 1999, when this was found to be Britain's number one food safety worry. Today, just 36% of adults are most concerned about this issue. Foot & Mouth is the fifth greatest food issue at 34%, this competes with both cancer-risk related foods and pesticides in fruit/vegetables for joint position at fifth place.

"These latest results buck trends in attitudes over recent food safety issues. Mintel research over the years shows the number one food safety issue is whatever is in the headlines at the time. In this case this is not the story, which suggests that consumers are not placing Foot & Mouth at the top of their minds – rather BSE is causing the greatest concern" comments Elvira Doghem-Rashid, Consumer Goods Consultant at Mintel.

Given these results, Mintel’s survey continues to show that a quarter of adults have cut back or are planning to cut back on meat consumption. Almost 14% of consumers have already cut back their meat consumption, while a further 10% are considering cutting back in the future. However, some two-thirds of consumers have no plans to reduce their meat consumption. Interestingly, of the people worried about Foot & Mouth, the majority, 57%, have no plans to cut back meat consumption.