More than half of Americans in a survey released on Monday said the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has affected their seafood consumption habits.
According to a survey led by the University of Minnesota, 54 percent of respondents said the oil spill has affected their seafood consumption habits somewhat, while 44 percent said they will not eat Gulf seafood and 31 percents said they will eat less seafood regardless of its origin.
What’s more, 89 percent of respondents said they’re concerned about the oil spill’s effects on Gulf seafood, while 50 percent said they’re “extremely concerned.”
“Given the amount of news coverage the oil spill has received, these results may not be surprising, but it does show that consumers are connecting the event to food safety,” said Dennis Degeneffe, a research fellow at the University of Minnesota’s Food Industry Center.
The telephone survey, which polled 1,076 consumers over the six-week period since the beginning of the oil spill — was conducted jointly with the Louisiana State University AgCenter and was funded by the National Center for Food Protection and Defense.
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