mentioned as the fourth important factor. Among the respondents the concern towards foodborne
diseases of an animal origin (salmonellosis, E.coli O157:H7) was higher than concern for other risk
factors in food (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Comparing food safety concerns.
Concerning need for additional information, consumers desire more information about (1) the
control of food of animal origin, (2) GMOs used in animals, (3) country of origin and (4) whether or
not hormones are used in animal production. All of the respondents were given a brief description of
the new data bank system, which is currently under development. 75% of respondents indicated that
new quality data system, which would give more information to consumers, would be beneficial to
them. The aim of the question was that the respondents could express their opinion without linking
this to their WTP. After the description of the beef identification and labelling system, they were asked
about WTP for additional information about beef.
59 % of the respondents were willing to pay a premium to get additional information. The
main reason behind zero-WTP (41 % of the respondents) was that consumers were satisfied with
the present information of labels (35%). The other reason mentioned was that they simply
cannot pay more. Thirdly, it emerged that 17% of the zero-WTP respondents lack trust on this
system or they did not get enough information about it (13%) (Table 1).