About 63 percent of the respondents said recent cases of poisonous and unsafe milk have made them suspicious of the quality of other foodstuff.

"In the past, I used to dine out very often - almost five times a week," said Gui Hong, a 29-year-old marketing consultant. "Now, I always fix my dinner at home, where I know exactly what I am eating. Otherwise, I am always worried I might have eaten something harmful."

According to a recent survey released by the China Association for Quality (CAQ), a nationwide organization under the control of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, consumers have low confidence in locally-made liquid dairy products, too.

The confidence index stood at 68.27 out of 100, according to the survey, which covered 27 brands across 22 large- and medium-sized cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Ningbo.

Fan Tianshun, chief of the Customer Satisfaction Measurement Center of the CAQ said the index suggests that the dairy industry and the government need to focus more on improving the safety of food products, a Xinhua News Agency report said.