Consumers trust multiple retailers far more than small shops but vote themselves the most trustworthy when it comes to food safety. In an IGD survey that asked respondents to name their top three for food safety, 37% said they trusted major supermarkets the most, while only 5% put all their faith in small retailers. More than half of consumers gave themselves top marks, followed by the Food Standards Agency with 46%. IGD's Consumer Watch survey found that people were generally confident the food they bought was safe ­ a massive 76% ­ but had an inherent belief that something might go wrong. Ignorance of food production methods meant some food safety judgements were based on emotion rather than fact, which IGD said indicated there could be a need for consumer reasurance rather than calling on manufacturers to adopt different practices. Standards were often considered to be the best in the world and shoppers seemed happy to accept occasional "mistakes" as long as they were short-term, relatively minor and appropriately addressed. GM food, BSE and the state of UK farming topped consumers' concerns; most people in IGD focus groups said they would rather not eat GM foods but were unsure which foods have been modified. They thought it was safer to eat food grown without pesticides, but could not explain why. They were also pessimistc about the state of UK agriculture which they said was caused by price disparities between farm gate and store. Shoppers were still unsure as to whether they paid more for food here than in other countries, and most did not know much about the work of the Food Standards Agency. IGD recommended a holistic approach to further reassure consumers. It said: "Consumers' inability to prioritise their food safety concerns suggests that improved onsumer confidence will not come simply by addressing key issues. "A further challenge is to address consumers' instinct that healthy and natural foods are probably the safest' foods." {{NEWS }}