Consumer Food Safety Practices

Abstract

Foodborne illness can be serious or even fatal, therefore, it is important for consumers to know and practice safe food handling behaviors to help reduce the risk of getting sick from contaminated food. It is also vital to understand consumer responses to various food safety issues for the development and implementation of effective policies to prevent contamination. This study investigated aspects of consumer food safety practices. It gathered information for development of effective food safety education initiatives from selected southwest Mississippi counties. Data were collected by means of face-to-face survey. Analysis was done using SPSS. Two hundred (200) consumers were surveyed, which represented a response rate of 80 percent. The results indicate that respondents consisted of 65.5 percent African-Americans, 27.5 percent white, and 7 percent Hispanics, Asians, and other races. Over 65.5 percent of respondents were female and 34.5 percent were male. A majority of respondents stated that food safety begins with proper hand washing and that practicing food safety helps maintain good health. This project provides an opportunity for the development and implementation of food safety education strategies to improve specific food safety behaviors in homes, schools and other public places.