Trust in Food: A Comparative and Institutional Analysis

Europe has witnessed a series of diverse crises in food over recent years including BSE, GM food, obesity, dioxin scares and avian flu. Consumer trust has become a critical issue, affecting not only markets, but also state regulators, scientists and the media. This major comparative research project, combining both public opinion surveys and detailed analysis of regulatory and food provisioning systems, demonstrates surprising contrasts in trust and distrust in different countries to reveal that trust is high in countries most affected by crisis, such as the UK, and low in countries with a reputation for good food, such as Italy.

Examining six European countries in depth - Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Norway and Portugal - as well as examining policy at EU level, Trust in Food presents an in-depth analysis of the complex social and relational bases for trust, challenging dominant ideas of the consumer as a sovereign individual and highlighting the 'triangular affairs' between consumers, states and market provisioners.

About the Author:
Unni Kjaernes is Senior Researcher at the National Institute for Consumer Research, Oslo, Norway

About the Author:
Mark Harvey is Senior Research Fellow at the ESRC Centre for Research on Innovation and Competition, University of Manchester, UK

About the Author:
Alan Warde is Professor of Sociology and Co-Director of the ESRC Centre for Research on Innovation and Competition, University of Manchester, UK