Brussels, 05/12/2003 (Agence Europe) - During a conference held on Thursday in Brussels on the perception of risk in food, the Commissioner for health and consumer protection, David Byrne, stressed the importance of keeping the public correctly informed of real dangers incurred during food crises of the BSE or atypical pneumonia kind in order to prevent movements of panic and irrational behaviour. The mad cow crisis gave rise to major boycotting of beef and veal by consumers to the great detriment of the sector, he recalled. During a press conference, Mr Byrne explained that, out of all the factors to be taken into account when making risk assessment - management, analysis, communication and perception - perception of risk in the public mind is perhaps the factor that is most difficult to understand and evaluate.
David Byrne identified five factors which, in his opinion, influence consumers' behaviour: 1) Governance or relations between governments, public institutions and the society as a whole. The public must have faith in its institutions and know who does what, in order to avoid all suspicion that public opinion is being manipulated. 2) Science as the scientific world also plays a vital role in the behaviour of the public when faced with risk. Sometimes the interests of the scientific community seem very far from the reality as lived by the public. "If science is seen as acting in a bubble, isolated from society (…) and using a language that is incomprehensible for the general public, then distrust and suspicion will inevitably arise", the Commissioner said. 3) Society: The role of the civil society and NGOs is fundamental. Although the Commissioner recognises the "good work" accomplished by NGOs, he nonetheless deplores the opportunism of some of them who, he says, pass disproportionate information onto the public. 4) Culture as cultural factors clearly influence consumer behaviour. Mr Byrne cites the example of the more confident attitude of Americans compared to that of Europeans on the matter of GMOs. He asked whether American citizens would have more confidence in their governmental structures or whether they would be less able to influence the decisions of their governments. 5) Media given that the role of the media in passing on information is essential. Contradictory and exaggerated press articles may cause doubt and fear in the minds of the general public, and the role of the public authorities in the communication of facts to the press without just waffle is therefore very important, Mr Byrne added. The Commissioner also defends GMOs. He said scientific indications seem to show that GMO products are just as good as the others, but we need more information, he admitted, stressing, moreover, the importance of being able to trace products as well as the importance of passing on information with full knowledge of the facts to consumers on such products.
German Minister Renate Künast backs the Commissioner on this point. In her view, it is necessary to allow consumers to assess risks themselves and to choose in full freedom which products they will be consuming. In order to do this, the communication must be based on transparency, which is mainly achieved through clear and detailed labelling and a control on advertising that should not be misleading or untrue. Spanish Minister Miguel Arias Canete rallied to the opinion of the European Commissioner on the communication. "The communication coming from the public authorities is not always understood. Confidence must be created", he said. He also stressed the importance of setting up an effective system for food inspection, mainly regarding the traceability of products, the monitoring of food inspections, and examination of GMO crops. According to Mr Arias Canete, a code of conduct should be established, systematically keeping the population informed of the behaviour to be adopted in the event of crisis, in order to avoid all movements of panic.