P99-32 Print Media: 301- 827-6242 FOR IMMEADIATE RELEASE December 13, 1999 Consumer Media: 888-INFO-FDA
This survey, commissioned by the Vice President's National Partnership for Reinventing Government, was developed to measure how well these government agencies serve the American people and to set a baseline for measuring customer satisfaction with the Federal government.
The FDA received an index score of 66 in the survey, conducted by the University of Michigan using procedures established for the American Customer Satisfaction Index, which measures satisfaction with many segments of American industry.
Customers of the agencies were interviewed and asked about their expectations, as well as the quality of the services or products they receive from the agency. For the FDA survey, the principal grocery shopper and food preparer for all food products except meat and poultry were interviewed. The survey asked about the usefulness and clarity of food labeling; customer awareness and the effectiveness of inspecting, testing and labeling efforts; and the usefulness of consumer alerts, meats and poultry are regulated by USDA.
In addition to consumers' positive views of the food label and FDA's ability to ensure that food is safe, the survey also indicated that the FDA should increase public awareness of actions to ensure food safety and focus on awareness efforts during consumer alerts. Fifty-four percent of the customers surveyed are more satisfied with these efforts now than they were two years ago.
"I am proud of FDA's strong commitment to ensuring that food is safe and properly labeled," said Jane E. Henney, M.D., Commissioner of Food and Drugs. "Millions of Americans rely on the food label to make healthy food choices. They also depend on FDA for accurate and timely information about potential health hazards associated with food. We will continue to build on our record as we strive to serve the public even better in the future."
The FDA has undertaken a wide range of outreach activities designed to foster extensive and continuing interaction between the agency and the many customers it serves. Through FDA's nationwide network of field offices, its Website (www.fda.gov) and information line (1-888-INFO-FDA), there are more ways than ever before for stakeholders to interact with FDA. The agency has also recently opened an Outreach and Information Center in the Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition (1-888-SAFEFOOD) that responds to telephone and electronic inquiries and provides current, reliable food safety alerts and information to consumers and industry. The FDA continues to be active in the "Fight BAC" campaign, a collaborative program involving government, industry, academia, and consumer groups which focuses on educating consumers about safe food handling.
The results of the survey are available at www.fda.gov/oc/customerservice/satisfaction/default.htm.
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