In general, food-allergic consumers were not satisfied with the current labelling practices. Information was thought to be unclear or insufficient, which resulted in personal stress and feelings of insecurity. Further research is needed to identify how best allergy information might be provided.
Food allergy is a chronic disease that can only be managed through avoidance of problematic proteins in the diet. Inappropriate communication about food allergens can cause stress and insecurity, which may have a negative impact on quality of life. The aim was to investigate whether information provided through current labelling practices meets the need of food allergic consumers. A total of 40 participants (20 adult food allergy suffers and 20 parents of food allergic children) were recruited from two different European countries (Greece and The Netherlands), and interviewed while shopping in a supermarket. Participants were asked to purchase 15 potentially problematic food items as if for their own household. Their information search behaviour was observed, and participants were questioned about their preferences for food allergen information provision. Participants reported experiencing problems associated with current food allergy information provision. It was reported that inappropriate use of fonts, colours and languages, application of precautionary labelling and lack of harmonization in labelling practices across countries can cause (un)necessary dietary restrictions for food allergic consumers. Research is needed to investigate the feasibility and implementation possibilities for new information delivery strategies and amendments to existing European labelling policy
In European countries, there has been growing consumer distrust regarding the motives of food safety regulators and other actors in the food chain, partly as a result of recent food safety incidents. If consumer confidence in food safety is to be improved, a systematic understanding of what consumers perceive to be best practice in risk management is crucial. Previous qualitative and quantitative research has revealed underlying factors determining consumer perceptions of food risk management quality. The aim of the current case studies is to provide ‘proof of principles’ of these different factors against historic and emerging food safety incidents. Participants in four countries were questioned about country specific case studies, guided by the earlier findings regarding factors that determine perceived good practice in food risk management. In each country, two food safety incidents were selected. Semi-structured interviews with at least 25 participants per case study were conducted in Germany (BSE; nematode worms in fish), Greece (mould in Greek yogurt/carcinogenic honey crisis; avian influenza), Norway (E. coli in meat; contaminants in Norwegian salmon) and the UK (BSE; contaminants in Scottish salmon). The results generally confirm the importance of the previously identified factors, which help to explain relative perceptions of well and poorly managed incidents. Differences and similarities across countries and cases are detailed, and implications for future efforts to communicate about risk management are drawn
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