U.S. consumer confidence in grocery food safety dropped to 65% in Gallup's October 2026 poll, the lowest level in the firm's tracking and down eight points from 2025 and 16 points from 2019. The reading follows the largest cyclospora outbreak in U.S. history, which sickened more than 12,000 people across 21 states before being declared over Sept. 11.

For grocery distributors, broadline wholesalers and their CPG supplier partners, the polling data point to measurable shifts in shopper behavior that affect SKU velocity, private-label demand, shrink and the cost of recall logistics.

What do the confidence numbers show?

Gallup found 34% of U.S. adults are "not too confident" or "not at all confident" that grocery-store food is safe, nearly double the 18% recorded in 2019. Confidence in restaurant food stood at 66%, statistically indistinguishable from the grocery reading.

Trust in the federal government's ability to protect the food supply fell to 47%, down from 53% in 2025 and 68% in 2019. The measure stood at 85% in 2004. For the first time in Gallup's tracking, a majority of respondents — 53% — said they have "not much" or no confidence at all in federal food-safety oversight.

How is shopper behavior changing?

The behavioral data track directly to inventory turns, category mix and shrink for distributors handling center-store and fresh categories:

• 73% of Americans said they avoided purchasing certain brands or types of food in the past year, up from 53% in 2024.
• 45% reported throwing out or returning a food product, up from 37% two years earlier.
• 42% said they worried something they ate might have been contaminated, up from 26% in 2024.

All three measures reached their highest levels in the series.

Where does the channel exposure sit?

The cyclospora outbreak put fresh-produce supply chains under national scrutiny. Distributors handling leafy greens, fresh-cut fruit, herbs and salad kits absorbed recall costs that compound across cold-chain logistics, reverse logistics and retailer chargebacks.

Category managers at broadline distributors should expect:

• Margin pressure on private-label produce as consumers rotate toward brands they perceive as safer — or away from categories entirely.
• Higher working capital tied up in recall reserves and short-dated inventory.
• Increased retailer demand for traceability documentation and supplier audit records as a procurement gate.

What does the partisan split mean for forecasting?

Confidence in grocery safety now runs along party lines. Among Republicans, 77% expressed confidence, a rise of nine points. Among Democrats, confidence fell 14 points to 66%. Independents dropped 10 points to 60%.

The gap widens on federal oversight: 70% of Republicans expressed confidence in the government's food-safety role, versus 30% of Democrats. In 2024, Democrats were the more confident group on the same measure.

Avoidance behavior rose across all three groups, however — 81% of Democrats, 73% of independents and 63% of Republicans said they had steered clear of specific brands or products.

What does this mean for distributors?

Gallup noted that food-safety concerns have coincided with declining public confidence after major outbreaks in 2007 and 2008, and that confidence in federal oversight has not returned to 70% in any subsequent reading.

For wholesale distributors, the implication is that consumer avoidance has become a structural feature of the grocery channel rather than a short-term reaction to a single recall event. Category managers will need to adjust planograms against category-level velocity data, and CPG suppliers will face renewed scrutiny on traceability investments that distributors must help route through their warehouses.

The next reading of confidence will likely track the cadence of public outbreak disclosures through 2027.