Consumers' behaviors and concerns on fresh vegetable purchase and safety in Beijing urban areas,China

Many studies have measured the perceptions of consumers on different aspects of food safety but only a limited number of studies focused on consumer's perception of vegetable safety risks in developing countries. This study aimed to investigate consumers' behaviors and concerns on vegetable purchase and safety in Beijing urban areas. It identified the factors influencing consumers' behaviors on vegetable purchase, safety and information channel with different demographic groups of consumers. A total 590 of valid questionnaires were collected in this study in January, 2015. The participants of 352 female and 238 male were consumers shopping at the supermarkets in Beijing urban areas. Results indicated that consumers intended to choose their trusted purchasing places to purchase vegetables, and their perceptions of “freshness” (m = 4.61, sd. = 0.78) and “pesticide residues” (m = 4.57, sd. = 0.95) were the top concerns. Female and senior consumers were more concerned about vegetable safety. Consumers who purchase vegetables frequently were more likely to pay attention to food safety and quality than the ones who have never brought vegetables. Consumers used different information channels to get vegetable knowledge. Most consumers used traditional information channels such as TV and broadcasting, while young and well-educated consumers relied more on internet. The findings suggested that some safety control measures need to be taken through the vegetable supply chain to reduce the hazards and ensure vegetable safety, which would help to establish or rebuild consumers' trusts on vegetable safety.     

Food hygiene practices in different food establishments

The aim of this study was to investigate three dimensions of food hygiene in three European cities - Belgrade, Thessaloniki and Porto. The first dimension of the survey was to evaluate the level of hygiene in different food establishments supplying food direct to consumers. A total of 91 food businesses were included in the survey with 30 food businesses from Belgrade and Porto, and 31 from Thessaloniki. In parallel with scoring the premises, the second dimension of the study was to examine the opinion of managers of these food establishments regarding food hygiene rating. Finally, in order to justify the importance of food hygiene, the research covered consumers' perception regarding food safety and hygiene practices in the three European cities. A total of 600 respondents were interviewed in the survey, 200 respondents per city.This study confirmed that HACCP as a concept is important and major differences in the level of food hygiene in food establishments are based on HACCP status rather than type and size of food establishment. The analysis revealed hygiene and food preparation as the predominant in low ranking of food hygiene and safety procedures, followed by inadequate layout as predominant factor in evaluating structural requirements. Also, the obtained results indicated greater level of hygiene in food establishments in Thessaloniki and Porto, than in Belgrade. Managers' opinion confirms their belief that a transparent food hygiene rating of all food establishments could lead to improved business. Finally, respondents in all cities confirmed their awareness of the importance of food hygiene and indicated kitchen related statements as the most influential.     

Chinese consumers food purchasing behaviors and awareness of food safety

This study examines consumer food purchasing behavior and awareness of food safety in China. We surveyed a total of 1015 consumers in Nanjing and Beijing and the results showed that consumers with a lower level of education tend to be less concerned about certain food safety factors compared to those with a higher level of education. The respondents with higher food expenditures were also more concerned about food safety than those who spent less money on food. Women, families with children or elderly people were also more concerned. Consumers in the used sample preferred to buy food from a super-market; paid more attention to the expiration date on the food label, food color and the nutritional content of food products. Consumers had little knowledge of who was responsible for food safety in China; therefore educating consumers on who was responsible for food safety in China may help mitigate consumers’ concerns.     

Food safety and transparency in food chains and networks Relationships and challenges

European consumers are worried about the safety of their food. These concerns are caused by a continuing sequence of food scandals and incidents during the last decade. In response, consumers call for high quality food, food integrity, safety guarantees and transparency. Governments are imposing new legislation. Retailers are imposing new demands on their supply chains. Food supply chains react by implementing systems to improve the product's quality and guarantee its safety, at the same time making transparent that they do so. Such actions can be taken at the level of either the individual company or the complete network of supply chains. We describe the challenges involved in achieving food safety and transparency by cooperating in the supply chain network. To this end, we elaborate on a real world case in an SME environment.     

Implications for effective food risk communication following the Fukushima nuclear accident based on a consumer survey

Food consumers became more concerned about radioactive contamination of food after the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011; thus, the present study aimed to survey food consumers to obtain their views on risk perception, general knowledge, confidence in existing information sources, and the information required to develop strategic risk communication plans. In total, we surveyed 1208 food consumers in the Republic of Korea, who were selected randomly for a multi-stage stratified systematic sampling process with a computer-aided telephone interview based on random digit dialing. A high number of consumers (77.2%) actually avoided purchasing Japanese foods because they perceived that there was a potential radiological risk. The consumers' levels of knowledge about radioactivity, environmental radiation, and health effects were relatively low, particularly the safe dosage limits for radiation and natural radioactive decay (recognition rate < 30.0%). A number of the respondents (56.1%) were seldom or never confident in the government's handling of food safety following the accident. Among the existing information sources, mass media (36.9%) were considered to be the most credible, followed by consumer organizations (26.6%), governmental institutions (12.5%), and food safety experts (7.7%). The subjects required a variety of information on food safety issues related to radioactive contaminations, but their actual search behaviors were highly passive. In relation to the socio-demographic characteristics, women and consumers with high involvement in food purchasing tended to be more sensitive about the potential risks for food produced in those areas affected by the nuclear accident. In relation to general knowledge, women, the elderly, and those with low educational attainment tended to have low awareness of radioactivity, environmental radiation, and the health effects of radiation exposure. These results provide a valuable resource for understanding consumers' general opinions about food safety issues following the Fukushima nuclear accident. In addition, they may facilitate the production of meaningful recommendations regarding appropriate risk communications and the education of consumers about the radiological safety of foods in the context of a potential nuclear emergency.     

Consumers' confidence,reflections and response strategies following the horsemeat incident

Following the discovery of horsemeat in beef products in Europe in 2013, restoring consumers' confidence in processed meat products as well as in all the agencies involved – producers, food safety authorities, retailers – soon became a key priority. However, the European public's confidence in processed meat products and their views about government and industry actions to manage fraudulent practices in the wake of this incident are poorly understood. The objective of this study was to identify the core issues affecting consumers' confidence in the food industry, particularly in the meat processing sector, and to explore the impact of the horsemeat incident on consumers' purchasing and eating behaviour. It involved the use of an online deliberation tool VIZZATA™ to collect detailed views of 61 consumers in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Many participants reported buying fewer products containing processed meat as a result of the horsemeat incident. These respondents also claimed that their confidence in processed foods containing meat was lower than before the incident. Participants suggested restoring consumer confidence through improved traceability, sourcing local ingredients, providing clearer and correct labelling and stating the origin of meat on pack. Overall, findings indicate that rebuilding consumer confidence in processed meat products following a food adulteration episode is a multifaceted and difficult process. Food authorities and the food industry can benefit from the insights provided by this study to address issues affecting consumer confidence and to improve their communication strategies during future food adulteration incidents.     

Urban street foods in Shijiazhuang city,China: Current status,safety practices and risk mitigating strategies

Street foods often reflect traditional local cultures and offer a unique cultural experience to tourists and even to ordinary consumers. With the increasing pace of globalization and tourism, the safety of street foods has become one of the major concerns of public health. There is an urgent need, in China, to establish a national program to raise the food safety awareness and knowledge of street food vendors. The safety and hygiene status of street foods in Shijiazhuang city was investigated. Data on the street food vendors' food safety knowledge and practices, inspectors' regulatory capacity and consumers' purchasing habits were collected. Potential hazards in the preparation and sale of street foods were analyzed and strategies for ensuring the safety of street foods were recommended. The study showed that the street food safety risks are primarily due to the use of unqualified raw materials encouraged by ineffective inspections, poor infrastructure at the street food vending sites and lack of sanitation knowledge among street food vendors. In order to prevent street foods from being contaminated, more stringent and effective routine supervision and food safety practices should be adopted and the environmental conditions and facilities should be improved. Regular training in food processing technology, food safety knowledge and practical food safety evaluation methods should also be strengthened among street food vendors and food safety inspectors.     

Microwave oven safety: A food safety consumer survey in Malaysia

Microwave oven is an indispensable tool in every household. However, the proper usage of the microwave ovens was neglected and thus, causing food safety concerns, especially microbiological hazard in microwaved heated food. Therefore, a survey was initiated to gauge the consumer’s knowledge of microwave oven safety concerning the food safety of reheated food. A total of 29 survey questions was designed that covered 5 demographic questions and 24 others on the knowledge and practice of microwave oven safety and food safety attitude. The survey was blasted out to 329 respondents via email. Overall, 189 (57.4%) returned respondents demonstrated low level of knowledge of the microwave oven safety, which indicated improper education of the microwave oven despite knowing the norms on the microwave oven usage. In addition, consumers demonstrated low levels of practicing microwave oven safety. The outcome of the survey also showed consumer’s neutral attitude towards food safety. There was no statistically significant association between the variables and demographic. The minimum knowledge of microwave oven and food safety shown by the consumers requires the attention to improve the food safety educational programs by including the knowledge on microwave oven safety for the betterment of the public health.     

Portuguese consumers' attitudes and perceptions of bivalve molluscs

Bivalves have been promoted as healthy food in many countries. Yet, little information is available about bivalve consumers' purchasing behaviour and attitudes. The aim of this study was to investigate the marketing and quality aspects of several bivalve species with economical value in Portugal and to examine the relationship between each respondent's demographic and socio-economic status with bivalve consumption attitudes and preferences. A randomly selected sample of 1778 people answered a web-based questionnaire. The majority of respondents claimed to consume clams (pullet carpet shell clam and Japanese carpet shell clam) and usually prefer bivalves from national production. Smell, size and cleaned shells were considered as the most important criteria when choosing live bivalves. Most consumers buy clams in supermarkets and revealed good knowledge about the risks associated with its consumption. Trust in the selling establishment and product's label information was the main perceived quality criteria associated to bivalve purchasing. Nonetheless, consumers' attitudes and preferences differed considerably according to their demographic and socio-economic characteristics. The current findings provide a useful tool for producers and stakeholders involved in the trade chain of bivalves to understand the consumption profile and the most important quality criteria involved in bivalve purchase. Additionally, it is an important tool to predict the risks of bivalve consumption as well as to understand the different scenarios of contamination occurring in harvesting areas by national competent authorities.     

Risk assessment of the intake of pesticides in Croatian diet

A total of 866 samples of 28 different kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables from import and domestic production were analyzed. In 67.1% of the samples no residues were found, 27.3% of samples contained pesticide residues at or below maximum residue limit (MRL), and 5.6% of samples contained pesticide residues above MRL. In this study, the exposure to pesticide residues through fruit and vegetable consumption is evaluated based on the 2007-2009 surveillance data. According to the results the long-term exposure of consumers did not raise health concerns. The short-term exposure assessment revealed that for 12 food samples analyzed the acute reference dose (ARfD) might have been exceeded if the food sample was consumed in high amounts. The short-term risk assessment could not be performed for 7 pesticides because there are no available data on acute reference doses.     

Willingness-to-pay price premiums for certified fruits —A case of fresh apples in China

Food safety certification has increasingly received much attention by Chinese consumers since the melamine milk crisis. The paper aims to determine consumers' willingness-to-pay (WTP) a price premium for fruit quality certification, and outreach strategy to monitor fresh fruit regulations. 504 fresh apple consumers in four cities located in different parts of China were interviewed face-to-face by a structured questionnaire. Factor analysis was used to reduce and summarize information on fruit attributes variables. Probit regression model was employed to identify critical determinants of consumers' WTP for certified fruits. Gender, education background and monthly income were the positive deciding factors for consumers WTP a premium for certified fruits. Better knowledge and higher confidence in certified fruits would foster consumers' WTP. Fruit quality and purchase convenience were also important factors being considered by consumers.     

Consumers’ knowledge and safety perceptions of food additives: Evaluation on the effectiveness of transmitting information on preservatives

In this study, consumer awareness and safety perceptions of food additives were identified via survey questionnaire. A total of 430 consumers living in Seoul, Korea participated. The results showed that the respondents were very concerned about preservatives, colorants, and artificial sweeteners in foods. More than two thirds expressed that information on food additives was insufficient. They attributed this lack of information to difficulties understanding the subject of food additives and insufficient education and public relations. Almost half of the respondents chose leaflets and pamphlets as preferable mediums of information transmission.This study also evaluated the impacts of information transmission (e.g., leaflet and pamphlet) on consumers’ knowledge, behavior, and safety perceptions of preservatives using matched pre- and post-surveys. Overall, knowledge scores were improved from 67.3% to 91.9% before and after the campaign, respectively. Safety perception scores significantly increased showing a 60% difference between the pre- and post-tests. The participants indicated that leaflets and posters were useful to understand both the types and functions of preservatives. The results of the pilot pre- and post-surveys implied that safety perceptions of food additives were affected by consumer awareness and knowledge. This study suggests that communication programs familiarizing consumers with various types of food additives must be developed in order to increase safety perceptions and to respond to consumers’ information needs on food additives.     

Food safety concerns in urban China: Consumer preferences for pig process attributes

This study examines Chinese urban consumers' preferences for pig process attributes related to food safety. A consumer survey was conducted on 479 participants randomly selected in the cities of Nanjing, Chengdu, Wuhan, Changchun, Beijing and Guangzhou. The field survey was restricted to two kinds of retailing: supermarkets and local markets. The questionnaire included a contingent experiment to evaluate five different attributes of pig production processes, including food safety effort, stocking density as proxies of animal welfare, meat taste, origin of breeds and quality. Through a panel mixed logit model we found that respondents were highly sensitive to food safety albeit with heterogeneous preferences. Such heterogeneity is partially explained by socio-demographic variables. Our study suggests that very poor families living in smaller cities are those most concerned about food safety in urban China.     

The food safety knowledge and microbial hazards awareness of consumers of ready-to-eat street-vended food

Controlling and ensuring the safety of street-vended foods in many countries is a challenge considering that these foods are often less expensive and readily available. The objective of this study was to determine the food safety knowledge based on microbial hazard awareness of street food consumers in the Johannesburg municipality, South Africa. A cross-sectional survey study was conducted using a structured food safety questionnaire designed for this study. A total of 402 respondents, individuals who buy and consume ready-to-eat street-vended foods were randomly selected at various street-food vending cites in the Johannesburg municipality. Data collection was by means of a face-to face interviews. The majority of respondents were black males younger than 35 years. Individuals of within different gender, race, level of education and monthly income groups significantly (p < 0.05) differed in their responses regarding the frequency of purchasing and confidence in the safety of street-vended food. Better taste followed closely by affordability and accessibility were the most cited reasons for purchasing street-vended food. Although the majority of respondents were aware that certain food borne bacteria can cause diseases that may lead to death, over 70% of them have never heard about Salmonella spp, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter jejuni. Although some consumers doubt the safety of street vended foods, they are not deterred from consuming them. Gender, race, the level of education and monthly income affect the way consumers of street-vended foods perceived the safety of street-vended foods and their desire to purchase them.     

Food-related hazards in China: Consumers' perceptions of risk and trust in information sources

This paper identifies segments of Chinese consumers based on their perception of personal risk, how worried they are and their subjective knowledge about seven possible food-related hazards: additives, residues, counterfeit, inferior, genetically modified, deteriorated and nutritionally imbalanced food. Data were collected through a consumer survey conducted in Beijing (534 participants) and in Baoding (437 participants). Three clusters were identified: worried and knowledgeable consumers (60.1%), worried and ignorant consumers (21.7%) and moderately worried consumers (18.2%). The first two groups reported a high level of worry and high perception of personal risk about food-related hazards in China. The two hazards they were most worried about were counterfeit food and inferior quality food. Television, internet and personal communication were the three information channels most frequently used by participants to obtain information about food safety. Worried and ignorant consumers reported less frequent use of magazines, books and brochures compared with other consumers. Medical doctors, personal experience and research institutes were the three most trusted information sources for the first two groups of consumers. Moderately worried consumers only placed high levels of trust in medical doctors and themselves. Consumers' perceptions about the knowledge, honesty and concern of different information sources significantly and positively affected their trust in those sources. The study concludes by making recommendations as to how to improve communications with the different identified consumer segments and identifies future research required to expand its validity.     

An improved traceability system for food quality assurance and evaluation based on fuzzy classification and neural network

Currently, the food safety incidents happened frequently in china and the customer confidence declined rapidly, then the problems related to food quality and safety have attracted more and more social attention. Considering the concern with regard to food quality assurance and consumer confidence improvement, many companies have developed a traceability system to visualize the supply chain and avoid food safety incidents. In this paper, we proposed an improved food traceability system which can not only achieve forward tracking and diverse tracing like the existing systems do, but also evaluate the food quality timely along the supply chain and provide consumers with these evaluating information, to mainly enhance the consumer experience and help firms gain the trust of consumers. For the food quality evaluation, the method of fuzzy classification was used to evaluate the food quality at each stages of supply chain while the artificial neural network was adopted to derive the final determination of the grade of food quality according to all the stage quality evaluations. A case study of a pork producer was conducted, and the results showed that the improved traceability system performed well in food quality assurance and evaluation. In addition, implications of the proposed approach were discussed, and suggestions for future work were outlined.     

Indicator microorganisms in fresh vegetables from “farm to fork” in Rwanda

Microbial safety of ready-to-eat vegetables is currently a global concern. We studied indicator microorganisms in fresh vegetables from “farm to fork” in Rwanda, to identify possible trends in microbial counts along the supply chain in a developing country. A total of 453 samples were taken across the vegetable supply chain (farm, market and food service establishment level) and analyzed for indicator microorganisms; Enterobacteriaceae, Listeria spp., aerobic plate count and coagulase - positive staphylococci. The sampling at farm and market covered 11 types of vegetables commonly eaten raw in salads. Results show that the mean count of Enterobacteriaceae and Listeria spp. in vegetables were respectively 5.8 and 4.6 log cfu/g at farm, 6.3 and 4.9 log cfu/g at market, 6.0 and 5.1 log cfu/g upon arrival at food service establishments, and finally 3.3 and 2.9 log cfu/g in ready-to-eat salads. Aerobic plate count and coagulase-positive Staphylococci were on average 6.8 and 4.6 respectively at start of salad preparation and 4.9 and 3.0 in the final product. Unit operations like washing with or without sanitizers, trimming and peeling significantly reduced indicator counts by on average 2.1 log cfu/g from start to end of salad preparation. Results also show that 91% (51/56) and 22% (12/56) of ready-to-eat salads prepared by food service establishments met the guidelines for coagulase - positive staphylococci (10⁴ cfu/g) and presumptive Listeria spp. (10² cfu/g). The high counts of these indicator microorganisms along the vegetable supply chain, raises concern about the potential presence of foodborne pathogens. This study calls for improved adherence to GAPs and GHPs in the fresh vegetable supply chain so as to minimize the potential risk from foodborne pathogens.     

Development and evaluation on a RFID-based traceability system for cattle/beef quality safety in China

Beef has become a kind of important food in China because of its nutritional value perceived by consumers. With increasing consumers' awareness and governments' regulations on beef quality and safety, traceability is becoming a mandatory requirement in cattle/beef industry. This paper developed and evaluated a cattle/beef traceability system that integrated RFID technology with PDA and barcode printer. The system requirements, the business flow of the cattle/beef chain, and the key traceability information for the system were identified through a survey. Then a conceptual model was proposed to describe the process of traceability information acquisition, transformation and transmission along the supply chain. Finally, the system was evaluated and optimized in the sampled supply chain.The results show that the major benefits gained from the RFID-enabled traceability system are the real-time and accurate data acquisition and transmission, and the high efficiency of information tracking and tracing across the cattle/beef supply chain; the main barriers for implementing the system are the inapplicable method of inputting information, the inefficient sequence of data input and communication mechanism associated with RFID reader, and the high implementation cost.     

Study on food safety concerns,knowledge and practices among university students in Saudi Arabia

Food Safety is important not only for the health of consumers but also the entire food industry and regulatory authorities. University students are an important target group as they are most likely to engage in risky eating behaviors and food handling practices making them susceptible to foodborne illness. The objectives of this study were to assess the level of food safety concerns, knowledge and practices among male and female university students of King Saud University, Saudi Arabia. Information concerning sociodemographic and academic characteristics and food safety knowledge were collected using self-administered questionnaire. Food safety questions were divided into four sections that covered key food safety concepts. A total of 808 students took questionnaires of which 66.08% responded (mean age 21.1 ± 2.9). Major food concerns for students were food taste, food temperature, food presentation, wellness of cooked food, cleanliness of serving area and appearance of food handlers. Students displayed good knowledge concerning food safety. Respondents were most knowledgeable about the cleanliness of kitchen surfaces and utensils, prevention of cross contamination and hand hygiene but demonstrated poor knowledge about heat treatment of food and temperature. Good knowledge of food safety was reflected in food safety practiced by the students except temperature control. Chi-square test results revealed that both male and female students demonstrated comparable food safety knowledge and practices. This is probably the first gender-based report on the food safety concerns, knowledge and practice among students of King Saud University, Saudi Arabia. The study highlights the need for educational programs that aim not only to provide knowledge but also encourage the students to practice the food safety measures strictly.     

HACCP-based approach to the derivation of an on-farm food safety program for the Australian red meat industry

The standard Codex HACCP approach was modified to allow a hazard analysis to be conducted at an industry level which could then be used to derive appropriate on-farm food safety control measures for cattle, sheep and goat production in Australia. Scientific information from a through chain risk profile of the red meat industry was used as a major resource for the hazard analysis. The process resulted in the identification of critical control points for control of bovine spongioform encephalopathy (BSE), prevention of violations of maximum residue limits with agricultural and veterinary chemicals and infection with Cysticercus bovis (Beef Measles). By applying this HACCP-based approach it was determined that the application of a simple set of good agricultural practices (GAP) on-farm would be effective in ensuring low risk. It was, therefore, concluded that on-farm food safety schemes may not warrant full HACCP plans at the individual enterprise level as long as appropriate GAP is in place. The results provide red meat producers with the elements of a HACCP-based food safety scheme that is scientifically justifiable, understandable and realistic to apply which are essential elements that underpin successful implementation and compliance by industry. Subsequently, an on-farm food safety program has been developed to provide an appropriate level of protection for consumers as well as to protect Australia’s trade from food safety-related issues.