Between 26 March and 22 April 2025, a large-scale survey on food safety was conducted across the European Union. The Eurobarometer, commissioned by EFSA and carried out by the European Commission, collected responses from 26,370 residents aged 15 and above. The interviews were conducted using a multi-stage random sample to ensure that all regions, age groups and background characteristics were statistically balanced. Most interviews were conducted face-to-face; in some countries, such as France, Finland, the Czech Republic and Denmark, some were conducted online. The result is a dataset that allows for a fair comparison between countries.
There is a high level of general interest in food safety, but it is not evenly distributed across Europe. The EU average is 72%, but in Greece this rises to 98%, in Cyprus to 95% and in Finland to 88%. In countries such as the Czech Republic and some Eastern European Member States, it drops to 55–65%. Food companies operating in multiple markets therefore never enter a single European audience, but rather highly diverse information cultures.
When purchasing food, price appears to be the most important factor in most of the Union. In twenty Member States, it ranks highest. Latvia and the Czech Republic reach a peak of 76%, closely followed by Cyprus with 74%. At the same time, the study shows that in Italy and Romania, food safety actually comes before price and taste, with values of 55% and 51% respectively. These are markets where risk information has a much more direct impact on purchasing decisions.
Knowledge about food safety issues also varies. Seven out of ten Europeans say they have heard of additives, more than two-thirds are familiar with the subject of pesticides, and almost a third of the population now has a very broad knowledge base, which is significantly higher than in 2022. This increase is in line with a second shift that is evident in the survey: concerns about the health aspects of food are increasing. Whereas a few years ago the focus was mainly on traditional food safety risks, chemical aspects are now more prominently in the spotlight. Pesticides are cited by 39% as the biggest concern, followed by antibiotics and hormones in meat by 36%. Chemical contaminants are also increasingly mentioned spontaneously in open responses. At the same time, health is becoming more important as a separate issue. More than a third of Europeans – 34% – say they are more concerned about the healthiness of food than about food safety itself. This group is growing and gradually shifting the public debate towards questions about residues, processing, additives and nutritional quality.
The contrast with practice remains significant. Microbiological risks, such as Salmonella and Listeria, account for the largest share of incidents and recalls in actual supervision, but are given less weight in consumer awareness. For companies, this means that risk communication must increasingly respond to chemical concerns, while operational measures are mainly microbiological in nature.
When consumers believe they have become ill from food, 78% say they change their eating habits. The group that does not do so indicates in 42% of cases that they believe they are already doing the right thing. The study therefore suggests that consumers often assess their own role in food safety more positively than is realistic based on practical experience.
The information sources that people use show a stable pattern. Despite declines in other areas, television remains the most widely used source, with an EU average of 55%. Family and friends follow with 42%, and search engines with 38%. In southern European countries, television still has a dominant position, while in northern Europe digital channels are more firmly established. Trust varies as much from country to country as information use. Doctors and specialists enjoy a very high level of trust in almost all Member States, averaging 90%. Public scientists follow with 84%. In terms of trust in EU institutions, Europe ranges from 87% in Portugal and Sweden to 57% in Romania and Greece. Trust in industry scientists is also divided: Portugal scores 90%, while Germany is at the lower end of the scale with 47%. Supermarkets are highly trusted in Finland and Portugal, both with 84%, but much less so in Greece and Bulgaria, where trust drops to 44–46%. The survey shows the greatest variation among influencers, from just 2% trust in Sweden and 9% in the Netherlands to around 50% in Croatia.
For entrepreneurs in the food sector, all this data paints a clear picture. There is no such thing as a European consumer; there is a collection of markets, each with their own sensitivities, risk perceptions and trust patterns. In countries such as Greece and Cyprus, interest in food safety is extremely high. In Italy and Romania, food safety is more important than price. In Northern Europe, digital information is accepted more readily; in Southern Europe, television remains crucial. And across Europe, concern about chemical and health-related food risks is steadily increasing, while knowledge of microbiological risks lags behind.
Those who operate internationally therefore do not communicate a single narrative, but rather a concentrated set of narratives that reflect the reality in each country. The research provides sufficient figures and patterns to make these strategic choices well-founded.
Source: https://www.efsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/2025-09/2025%20EB%20103.3%20EFSA%20Report_vfinal.pdf
