Assessment of consumer food safety education provided by local authorities in the UK

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the extent, sources, diversity, costs, formats and content of food safety educational interventions for consumers provided by UK Local Authorities (LAs). Inadequate implementation of food safety practices in the home is known to contribute to the incidence of foodborne disease and therefore effective food safety education concerning risks and correct domestic food‐handling behaviours is essential.Design/methodology/approachA postal questionnaire was administered to all Environmental Health and Health Promotion departments in LAs in 2004 (n=436). The questionnaire assessed the extent of LA provision of consumer food safety advice, types, formats and content of interventions, rationale for information provision, methods used for design and delivery of information and participation in national initiatives.FindingsA considerable quantity of food safety advice is provided to UK consumers; in general this is variable between regions, variable in quality, infrequently evaluated and relatively uncoordinated. Overall, 95 per cent of UK LAs who responded to the questionnaire reported current provision of consumer food safety advice. The most common intervention used for provision of consumer hygiene information was leaflets (93 per cent of LAs) and data indicated that this is likely to continue. Hand‐washing (87 per cent), cross‐contamination (85 per cent) and cooking (77 per cent) were the most common issues reportedly addressed in hygiene initiatives. Less than a third of LAs reported evaluating the effectiveness of food hygiene advice.Originality/valueThis study has provided evidence of a large quantity of unique and diverse intervention materials across the UK, and suggests the need for the sharing of information materials and areas of innovation between LAs. Provision of generic, managed and co‐ordinated general and targeted food safety education resources in the UK may not only decrease important time and financial costs within LAs, but also increase consumer confidence in the accuracy of information provided and alleviate the risk for potential confusion of information from differing sources.

Food hygiene knowledge in adolescents and young adults

“…In the United Kingdom, foodborne disease affects 5.5 million consumers annually, or 1 in 10 people (Food Standards Agency, 2002). Foodborne illness causes 687 deaths (Adak et al, 2005) and costs approximately £1.5 billion per year (Redmond and Griffith, 2006). In the United States of America, these numbers may be as high as 76 million cases of food poisoning per year with 325,000 hospitalisations and 5,000 deaths annually (Mead et al, 1999).…”

Consumer food safety education for the domestic environment: a systematic review

“…As a consequence, food-safety objectives are now being set at the moment of consumption rather than at the moment of purchase (WHO/FAO, 2004) with consumers being heralded as the essential final link in the food chain to ensure safe food consumption and avoid food-borne disease (The Pennington Group, 1997, as cited in Redmond et al, 2004). This shift in focus has allowed researchers to comprehensively examine domestic food preparation practices using telephone surveys (Cody & Hogue, 2003;Redmond & Griffith, 2004a;Woodburn & Raab, 1997), postal surveys (Angell, 2008;Dharod et al, 2004;Redmond & Griffith, 2005a;Redmond & Griffith, 2005b;Redmond & Griffith, 2006a;Takeuchi et al, 2005a;Takeuchi et al, 2005b;Williamson et al, 1992), online surveys (Byrd-Bredbenner et al, 2007;Nauta et al, 2008;Unusan, 2007), home visits (Worsfold & Griffith, 1996), observations (Anderson et al, 2004;Clayton et al, 2003;Fischer, A. et al, 2007;Jay et al, 1999;Redmond & Griffith, 2006b;Redmond et al, 2004), laboratory simulations (Meredith et al, 2001) and reviews (Redmond & Griffith, 2003;Sattar et al, 1999;Wilcock et al, 2004).…”

Making sense of food risk information : the case of organic food

“…This information may elicit feelings of confusion and anxiety, and a need for more information so that individuals can weigh the pros and cons and make well informed decisions on their food intake (Van Dijk, Fischer & Frewer, 2011). Individuals may choose to use the Internet to find additional information (Jacob et al, 2010;Kuttschreuter et al, 2014;Redmond & Griffith, 2006;Tian & Robinson, 2008) which they then process and make sense of, in order to decide whether to purchase and eat the particular products.…”

“…Nowadays, the Internet is one of the main sources to search for information about food (Jacob, Mathiasen, & Powell, 2010;Kuttschreuter et al, 2014;Redmond & Griffith, 2006;Tian & Robinson, 2008) and individuals may end up on social media sites when searching. Social media contain the opinions of others, for example peers, experts or anonymous authors.…”

“…Generally, the Internet is becoming one of the main sources of information (Jacob et al, 2010;Kuttschreuter et al, 2014;Redmond & Griffith, 2006;Tian & Robinson, 2008). In the early days, the Internet was primarily used to search for and check information.…”