Consumer Awareness and Health Risk Perceptions of Pesticide Residues in Fruits and Vegetables in Kampala Metropolitan Area in Uganda

Abstract

Consumer awareness of the presence of pesticides in fruits and vegetables and associated health risks influences the actions they undertake to reduce their exposure. This study was carried out to explore consumers’ awareness of pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables and perceptions towards associated health effects in Kampala Metropolitan Area (KMA) in Uganda. Eight focus group discussions (FGDs) were done with fruit and vegetables consumers in KMA. The FGDs consisted of females and males living in urban and rural areas. Discussions were recorded and transcribed. The transcripts were coded inductively and analysed using conventional content analysis. Consumers were aware of the presence of pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables. Non-compliance to good agricultural practices, desire to produce good quality fruits and vegetables, and conflict of interest were thought to be the underlying reasons for the contamination. Consumers thought that their health is at risk of chronic and acute health effects, and that this risk is unavoidable. They emphasized that long term exposure to the pesticide residues puts them at risk of conditions like reproductive defects and noncommunicable diseases like cancer, hypertension, obesity, kidney and heart diseases among others. To reduce the risk, consumers were aware of and relied on mitigation measures including washing, peeling, drying and cooking or applied them in combination. Consumers were aware of the presence of pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables, potential short and long term health risks due to exposure, and domestic processing methods to reduce health risks. There is need for authorities to ensure adherence to good agricultural practices and ensure that farmers and consumers understand that pesticide are used to control pests and disease but not to primarily increase shelf life of fruits and vegetables.

Consumer Acceptance of Pesticide-Free Dairy Products in Germany: A Partial Least Square Model

“…In turn, farming systems that avoid the use of pesticides evoke significantly more positive associations among consumers. Thus, consumers perceive pesticide-free food production as a system which offers food safety, naturalness, and environmental-friendliness (Koch et al, 2017;Simoglou and Roditakis, 2022;Ssemugabo et al, 2023). This leads us to the following hypothesis: H5: Positive consumer attitudes towards pesticide-free production positively influence acceptance of pesticide-free food products.…”

Preventing microbe colonization on avocado (Persea nubigena var. guatemalensis) through metabiotic treatment, a promising postharvest safety improvement

“…On the other hand, fungicide treatments are mostly used to stop the process of fruit deterioration, but they have been shown to interfere negatively with human health ( Munhuweyi et al, 2020 ). As consumer awareness of the negative effects of fungicide use has increased during the past 10 years or more, numerous research initiatives have been established to discover safer alternative technologies ( Ssemugabo et al, 2023 ). Physical heat treatments (like hot water dips, steaming, dry heat, and forced air), irradiation, controlled atmospheres, biological control, plant extracts (like essential oils), and elicitors (like chitosan and jasmonates), among others, can be categorized among these alternative techniques ( Tesfay and Magwaza, 2017 ; Romanazzi et al, 2018 ).…”