July 13/Ottawa, Ont./Marketwire -- Canadians are confident in Canada's food safety system, according to results from a recent study commissioned by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Some 93% of Canadians surveyed expressed a degree of confidence in Canada's food safety system. In fact, 68% gave the system a favorable to strong confidence rating, remaining steady from last year. That is up from 60% in 2008.

Results also indicate that Canadians hold a favorable opinion of the work done by the CFIA.

"Canadians trust this government to protect the safety of Canada's food supply and rightly so," said Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. "We have experienced, highly-trained personnel at the front lines verifying that industry is following the rules and making safe food."

The study also found that a growing number of Canadians believe food recalls are an indication that the food safety system is working. Furthermore, Canadians acknowledge that everyone has a role to play in food safety, including farmers, industry, government, consumers, grocery stores and provincial governments.

Results from the study also show that Canadians have an increased appetite for more information on food safety, particularly food recalls. The final study "Food Safety: Canadians' Awareness, Attitudes and Behaviours (POR 029-11)" can be found on the Library and Archives Canada's website at http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/pwgsc-tpsgc/por-ef/canadian_food_inspection_agency/2012/029-11/report.pdf .