Contrary to what food cops and pseudo-scientists have led us to believe, there is mounting evidence to suggest that our food is safer than we think. According to the findings of two recent surveys, “the chickens may be coming home to roost in the current ‘gut-versus-science’ rhetorical environment.”

As we’ve pointed out before, much of the “evidence” for America’s recent food scares--over tuna and french fries, for example--has turned out to be nothing more than scare-mongering and junk science. But as the results of these new surveys by the Center for Food Integrity and Great Britain’s Food Standards Agency  suggest, the hype over mercury-in-fish and acrylamide-in-chips is only the beginning.

Here are a few more consumer perceptions that “fly in the face of science.”

Bird flu – Ninety percent of people would be concerned about eating chicken from a farm contaminated with bird flu. In reality, there’s no scientific evidence to show that the food chain has a role in the contraction of bird flu in humans. People can’t catch bird flu through eating properly cooked chicken.

Genetically Modified (GM) food – Sixty-five percent of people were concerned about the safety of consuming GM food. The scientific evidence tells us that the biotech foods currently available are as safe as their conventional counterparts, and pose no additional risk to the consumer.

Organic - Thirty-five percent strongly agreed that “food grown organically is more healthful than conventionally grown food,” even though there are no scientifically valid health claims related to organic production.