Consumer perceptions of food‐related risks

Abstract

Recent research indicates that the majority of respondents in nineteen of thirty-four countries feel their food is less safe than 10 years ago. Concerns over food safety may result in elevated levels of perceived risk, particularly when fuelled by intense media coverage. The purpose of this study was to assess OhioansÕ perceptions of various food safety risks and to identify factors influencing risk judgments. Mail survey data are reported for 4014 respondents with a total response rate of 56%. Findings reveal moderate perceived levels of risk for the food safety items assessed. Pesticide residues in food and contamination of drinking water generated the highest levels of perceived risk, while mad cow disease and genetically modified foods generated the lowest levels of perceived risk. Regression results indicate that attitude toward biotechnology was the strongest predictor of perceived risk, followed by perceptions of media system dependency. Findings from this research can assist food safety specialists in developing more effective education and risk communication programmes for target audiences.

Food safety and acceptance of management options after radiological contaminations of the food chain

“…During recent years, it has been suggested in the literature (e.g. Tucker, Whaley, & Sharp, 2006) that public's confidence in food safety has declined due to multiple factors, e.g. the numerous food crises (Vandecasteele et al, 2005) or the shortcomings of communication about food safety which is too often solely based on scientific risk assessments (Jensen & Sandoe, 2002).…”

Consumer Responsibility for Food Safety

“…The accuracy and availability of appropriate data/information can be limited because people often find it difficult to remember exact details regarding their own consumption of food and food handling practices, and such details can have a significant effect on disease occurrence (Marklinder et al, 2004;Janjic et al, 2015c). The ultimate purpose of consumer studies as related to foodborne disease is to determine what proportion of foodborne disease outbreaks are due to improper handling of food in households and to determine what consumers know about food safety and why some safe food handling practices are applied and some are not (Tucker et al, 2006).…”

“…Only when consumers are informed about good food safety practices will it be possible to plan effective strategies to build and strengthen desirable consumer behavior in connection with food preparation in households. The use of models of social learning about health problems has enabled the identification of relationships between attitudes, beliefs and behaviors, and behavioral change (Tucker et al, 2006). Accordingly, while research has focused on food production, processing and retailing, relatively little research has been conducted to investigate the knowledge of consumers about food safety, and their application of good practice in the preparation of food in households.…”

Including social impact assessment in food safety governance

“…Differences between communication recipients may occur in terms of risk and benefit perceptions, as well as ethical concerns (Ibid.) potentially due to variation in education levels, ethnicity, experience with food-illness, attitude towards the hazard (Tucker, Whaley, & Sharp, 2006), socioeconomic status, gender (Frewer, 2000;Redmond & Griffith, 2005), or region (Frewer, 2000;Houghton et al, 2006). Risk-benefit communication must be in line with stakeholder needs for various hazard types, especially in terms of information that relates to the integration of positive and negative impacts, which may have different levels of associated uncertainty or risk variability (Frewer, 2004;Van Dijk et al, 2008).…”