Scientific literature review on measuring institutional trust in the domain of food regulation, food safety and public health nutrition

In response to the request from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to summarise the body of evidence to support EFSA's work to understand and measure institutional trust in the domain of food, ICF conducted a systematic literature review of 57 papers in relation to measuring trust in the food system and food system actors. Literature was reviewed related to three areas: i) the barriers and drivers of trust in the government/regulatory agencies responsible for the food system and related areas; ii) how institutional/organisational trust in the food system and related areas currently being measured; and iii) the different types of trust related to the food system and related areas and how they are defined and measured. All articles were peer reviewed, with the majority using a quantitative survey to measure levels of trust. The review found that understandings and usages of the concept of trust vary, in both academic and non‐academic contexts. Across the reviewed literature, three dimensions were central to the concept of trust: relationship, belief, and a future‐oriented perspective. Factors in EFSA's scope and remit discussed in the literature included consumer awareness and understanding, communication and communication sources, transparency, as well as values and interests. Factors outside of EFSA's remit included food fraud and risk management, traceability systems and food supply chain. Five measures were selected to represent a range of approaches to measuring trust in institutions, including: Gorton (2021); Macready (2020); Benson's Toolkit (2020); Tonkin (2021); and The OECD TrustLab Experimental Approach. The report concludes with a series of recommendations to consider when developing a measurement of trust in food systems institutions.