the end consumer as the most important element in the food chain, and to re- construct the single elements of the food production and distribution process from the consumers perspective – in other words to start a reversed food chain thinking. This approach makes it possible to come to a kind of hierarchical analysis of the research issues in three main categories1 : Consumer Science Consumer confidence in food safety has recently dropped to very low levels, as illustrated . by the public debate on genetically modified food and the effects on the market of recent food scandals such as the BSE crisis or the contamination of chicken with dioxin
