Meat remains the food Americans worry about most with 44% of those surveyed saying it poses the greatest risk. The good news is that’s a 7% drop from last year.

The NPR-Thomson Reuters Health Poll represents responses from 3,017 survey participants interviewed from July 1-13, 2011. The margin of error is 1.8%. The survey repeated questions from 2010, asking respondents about the safety of the country’s food supply.

Among respondents to the survey, 10.7% say they are not at all concerned about the safety of their food, up from 6.6% in 2010. But while fewer people say they are concerned about food safety, the number of people who said they had become sick from something they ate in the last three months (11.2%) was higher than last year (10.5%).

NPR-Thomson Reuters also found the severity of food illness increased from 2010. Last year 12.1% of respondents said they became seriously ill due to something they ate. That number climbed to 21.5% in 2011. After meat, the foods that concern Americans most are: fresh produce (30.2%); seafood (20.1%); and dairy products (5.5%).

Scio-economics appear to play a role in food safety concerns as 53% of respondents who earn less than $25,000 per year were very concerned with the safety of their food. That’s much higher than other income groups. Of those earning more than $100,000 per year 31.5% were very concerned about their food. The total for all income groups was 38.5% who were very concerned about their food.

Older Americans seem less concerned about the safety of their food. Among those 65 years and older, 32% said they were very concerned about the safety of their food. That compares with 39.6% of those under 35, and 40.5% of those 35 to 65 years of age.

From the September 16, 2011, Prepared Foods' Daily News.