Stakeholders' perceptions,attitudes and practices towards risk prevention in the food chain

An online survey was conducted to describe stakeholders' perceptions, attitudes and practices towards risk prevention in the food chain and to explore if common features could be extracted from different fields of competency or groups of stakeholders. Out of 80 participants, 60% believed that pathogenic microorganisms were the main hazard to prevent. Twenty-four percent perceived climate change as the main risk factor. Seventy-three percent believed that hazards in the food chain are preventable and they often showed a positive attitude towards risk prevention measures. The opinion of 75% of stakeholders was that prevention measures should be compulsory and under the shared responsibility of both food business operators and competent authority. Seventy-five percent of the respondents had recent experience with particular hazards and declared to have undertaken risk reduction measures. Incentives to implement measures were policy obligation and public health consequences whereas barriers were budgetary reasons and doubts about their effectiveness. However, there was not always a complete agreement between the perceived usefulness of risk prevention measures and their effective implementation, and conversely. No significant difference could be observed in the perceptions, attitudes and practices towards risk prevention between neither groups of stakeholders nor their fields of competency. The results are important for improving the risk communication process because the same issues can be emphasized when promoting risk prevention in the food chain regardless of the type of food sectors and the groups of stakeholders.     

Antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes of Arcobacter isolates recovered from edible bivalve molluscs

The goals of this study were to assess the prevalence, antimicrobial susceptibility and the presence of virulence genes of arcobacters recovered from edible bivalve molluscs. A total of 106 samples (21 clams, 18 mussels, 20 oysters, 20 razor clams, 11 scallops and 16 surf clams) were analysed by culture between 2010 and 2013. The obtained colonies were identified by multiplex PCR and PCR-RFLP and genotyped by ERIC-PCR. Furthermore, nine putative virulence genes (cadF, ciaB, cjl349, irgA, hecA, hecB, mviN, pldA and tlyA) were assessed by PCR and the antimicrobial resistance was tested by the dilution agar method. The global prevalence was 40.5%, with the highest value in surf clams (87.5%) followed by razor clams (65.0%), mussels (33.3%), clams (23.8%), scallops (18.0%) and oysters (15.0%). The most commonly found species was Arcobacter butzleri (62%) followed by Arcobacter cryaerophilus (21%), Arcobacter skirrowii (16%) and Arcobacter defluvii (1%). A high resistance was found to nalidixic acid and ampicillin, while the predominant detected virulence genes were mviN (83.8%), ciaB (82.8%) and tlyA (72.7%). Our results indicate a high prevalence of arcobacters in shellfish and the pathogenic potential of the recovered isolates suggests that this type of food could be a plausible transmission route of virulent strains to humans.     

Food safety knowledge and attitudes: culture and environment impact on hawkers in Malaysia.: Knowledge and attitudes are key attributes of concern in hawker foodhandling practices and outbreaks of food poisoning and their prevention

This study determined the impact of culture and environment on knowledge and attitudes of hawkers towards food safety, foodborne illnesses and their prevention. One hundred hawkers in Kuala Lumpur (KL) were interviewed, using a structured interview schedule. Environment did not effect hawkers’ knowledge and attitudes. Education influenced knowledge and attitudes scores of the interviewees. Differences in knowledge of the ethnic groups were in cross-contamination, equipment, utensils and premises, personal hygiene, hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) and food regulations and control. Malay and Indian hawkers had better educational background, hence better knowledge and attitude scores than Chinese. The findings highlight the importance of education to bridge cultural gaps in food safety knowledge and attitudes. A strong relationship exists between the knowledge and attitudes of hawkers.     

Occurrence of Vibrio spp. in sea fish, shrimps and bivalve molluscs harvested from Adriatic sea

One hundred and seventeen samples of sea fish (100), shrimps (10) and bivalve molluscs (7) were sampled at fish markets (100 samples) and hotels (17 samples) along the sea side in Croatia within the period from May to July 2000. The samples were tested for the presence of Vibrio spp. Vibrio spp. was isolated in 23 (19.65%) of total count of samples. The most frequently found were V. parahaemolyticus (9.40%), V. vulnificus (6.84%) and V. alginolyticus (3.42%). A significantly larger number of positive findings involved the samples collected at hotels (35.29%) as compared to those collected at fish markets (17.00%). The isolation was conducted by a conventional cultivation with the enrichment in alkaline peptone water and on TCBS Kobayashi agar (“Biolife”).     

Food safety knowledge,attitudes and self-reported practices of food handlers in institutional foodservice in Accra,Ghana

The aim of this study was to evaluate the food safety knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of food handlers from institutional food service establishments that serve hospitals, boarding senior high schools and prisons in Accra, Ghana. A total of 278 food handlers (56.8% of hospital, 30.9% of schools and 12.3% of prison food service) participated in the cross-sectional study. Data was collected by face-to-face interviews, and responses were scored to determine the level of food safety KAP. Respondents who scored ≥70% of the maximum possible score were adjudged to have sufficient knowledge and practices and positive attitudes. Results showed that respondents generally had insufficient food safety knowledge and practices with means scores of 20.99 ± 7.64 (46%) and 9.35 ± 5.62 (52%) respectively. Attitudes towards food safety were generally negative but with a comparatively higher mean score of 12.64 ± 3.06 (63%). Areas of most concern were 1) Lack of knowledge of sources of contamination/cross-contamination and appropriate holding temperatures for food. 2) Poor practices included multiple freeze-thaw cycles for frozen food and 3) Infrequent hand washing during food preparation after coughing or sneezing. There is the need for continuous risk based training to educate and effect behavioral changes among food handlers. This process will encourage positive attitudes towards food safety and consequently promote good food safety practices.     

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.     

Understanding and attitude regarding the shelf life labels and dates on pre-packed food products by Belgian consumers

Based on an on-line survey using questionnaires, information on Belgian consumers (n = 907) regarding their understanding and attitude towards shelf life labels and dates was collected. 80.1% of the respondents were familiar with the terminology of the label use by and best before while 69.6% indicated to know the difference between the meaning of the two labels. Judging edibility of food products at home occurs mainly by a combination of checking visually and smelling (82.5%), followed by looking at the shelf life date (67.5%) or tasting (50.4%). About half of the consumers is aware of and appreciates the difference between the two labels during this judgment. Most of the consumers interpret shelf life labels and dates with some flexibility, with variation depending upon the type of food product under consideration. Overall, the share of consumers willing to eat expired refrigerated products was lower than for expired products stored at ambient temperature: 19.1% for refrigerated raw products (e.g. meat and fish); 34.7% for refrigerated ready-to-eat products (e.g. deli-meat, cheese products, smoked fish); 61.0% for canned products (e.g. conserves) and drinks (e.g. beer) and lastly 69.3% for other products generally stored at ambient temperature (e.g. bread, unopened UHT milk, chocolate, cereals). Differences linked to age and gender are discussed. The suboptimal understanding and application of the EU date label framework by consumers may lead on the one hand to increased food disease burden by consuming certain expired use by products allowing growth of pathogens. On the other hand discarding food at the shelf life data in case of a best before date contributes to food waste by consumers. A better understanding of the shelf life labels use by (referring to food safety) and best before dates (referring to food quality) by consumers should be promoted.     

Knowledge, attitudes and practices of workers on food hygienic practices in meat processing plants in Fars, Iran

This cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and practices of food workers in four meat processing plants in the Fars province, southern Iran. A self-administered, structured questionnaire was designed and completed by 97 food workers during November 2006–January 2007. Results indicated that the respondents had acceptable level of knowledge, excellent attitudes and poor practices toward food hygiene measures. Almost all of the food workers (97.9%) were aware of the critical role of general sanitary measures in the work place while there was lack of knowledge about microbial food hazards in the majority (67–78%) of them. A significant negative correlation was observed between knowledge and practices (r_s = −0.20, P = 0.04), and attitudes and practices (r_s = −0.27, P = 0.009), revealing that increased knowledge and even attitudes toward food safety does not always result in positive change in food handling behaviors.     

Managerial attitudes, acceptance and efficiency of HACCP systems in Hungarian catering

The Hungarian catering industry has to face up to numerous challenges nowadays because of rising costs and stagnating purchasing power. Under these conditions the managerial acceptance of the compulsory introduction of the HACCP system is rather mixed. This research is based on a direct question survey, with the aim of analysing the relation amongst the strategies of catering service managers, their attitudes towards food hygiene and the HACCP system, their managerial experiences about working with the HACCP system, as well as the evaluation of hygienic practice of catering service providers by independent specialists. More than 1100 questionnaires were processed. Two main approaches were analysed with regard to the general attitudes of catering managers: the hygiene and the cost-oriented approaches. The acceptance of HACCP systems lacked homogeneity to a significant extent. 28% of the respondents considered that the increasing quality and safety were the really important and necessary tasks. 41% of the respondents had a rather reluctant attitude towards their systems, mainly as a consequence of fear of extra investment and administrative burdens. Last but not least, the third group of managers accepted the importance of hygiene, but did not acknowledge the possibilities offered by HACCP for better work-organisation and clearer determination of responsibility. The structural equation analysis between the managerial strategy and attitudes, as well as the hygienic conditions, have proven numerous significant relations between these factors, but the results highlight the importance of efforts aiming at better integration of the HACCP approach in managerial activities. There is a real danger that this system will be simplified to accomplish administrative tasks.     

Risky behaviours from the production to the consumption of bivalve molluscs: Involving stakeholders in the prioritization process based on consensus methods

The most recent data show that shellfish farming represents approximately 60% of the total aquaculture production in Europe. Bivalves molluscs are internationally recognized as a potential vehicle for foodborne diseases especially when consumed raw or improperly cooked. Bivalves are filter-feeding animals that may accumulate particles present in the surrounding water, including viruses and pathogenic microorganisms. For these reasons consumers have to be careful during purchasing, handling and cooking of this food. In Europe several regulations have been adopted to protect consumers’ health. However in the development of new food safety strategies it is also crucial to find an effective approach to guide authorities’ decisions on priorities for controlling foodborne risks. In the article a study for the selection and ranking of behavioural information on bivalve risks is reported. The “consensus methods” provide a means of synthesising information and of harnessing the insights of experts to enable decisions shared and validated by the scientific community. The Delphi method and Nominal Group technique (NGT) were applied for their capability to assess the level of agreement and to develop consensus among participants. In the article, the NGT is presented as a way to involve relevant stakeholders in the ranking of risky behaviours from the production to the consumption of bivalve molluscs previously selected by scientific experts through the Delphi method. The inclusion of a full range of experts and stakeholders in a community participatory research project regarding food risk management represents an innovative approach in the Italian public health context, especially in the analysis of bivalve risks.     

Knowledge,attitudes and practices of food handlers on food safety in food service operations at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

This study was conducted to determine the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices of food handlers in food service operation at the main campus of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) regarding food safety. Data were collected from 112 food handlers through questionnaires which consisted of questions about knowledge, attitudes and practices. The results showed that there was significantly positive correlation among the three levels and respondents possess good scores for knowledge (19.68 ± 3.87) about personal hygiene, foodborne diseases and temperature control of food; for attitudes (89.26 ± 8.66) on safe food handling, and for practices (90.02 ± 8.23), specifically for appropriate hand washing, use of gloves in food preparation and prevention of food hazards. About 73.2% of respondents never attend any training related to food safety and majority show poor knowledge of pathogens associated with disease-causing agents as well as critical temperatures for storage of ready-to-eat foods. Therefore, effective and ongoing training on food safety and hygiene must be given to all food service employees to ensure the safety of food provided.     

Fatty acid dynamics of the adductor muscle of live cockles (Cerastoderma edule) during their shelf-life and its relevance for traceability of geographic origin

Cockles (Cerastoderma edule) are commercially important bivalves that support several fisheries in European waters. The fatty acid (FA) profile of the adductor muscle (AM) of freshly collected live cockles can be used to reliably confirm their geographic origin. This approach is paramount for traceability, expose fraud and ensure food safety. However, no study has ever addressed if the FA profile of the AM of live cockles remains stable during shelf-life, as significant shifts may blur FA signatures recorded at harvest. The present study investigated the FA dynamics of the AM of live cockles during their shelf-life (seven days post-harvest under a refrigerated environment). Fatty acid methyl esters were obtained after transesterification of lipid extracts and analyzed through gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Results indicated that FA profiles remained stable until the third day post-harvest. After this period cockles started to exhibit contrasting FA profiles on their AM, namely a higher percentage of heptadecanoic acid (17:0). This FA is associated with the growth of pathogenic microorganisms responsible for food spoilage. In this way, the FA profile of the AM of live cockles can be used to reliably trace geographic origin up to three days post-harvest, as long as specimens are stored under refrigerated conditions during shelf-life.     

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.     

Hygiene in the home kitchen: Changes in behaviour and impact of key microbiological hazard control measures

This review first examines the societal evolutions which may impact negatively on food safety at home as well as the knowledge and perceptions of consumers with respect to food hygiene. In its second section, this paper gives a general overview of measures to control microbiological hazards in the domestic kitchen and their effectiveness. The measures described are those that aim to (i) decrease cross contaminations, (ii) hinder microbial growth (storage temperature), (iii) decrease microbial load (cooking, cleaning of hand, dishes, dish cloths, sponges, towels, equipment and utensil surfaces). The necessity to clean hands is unanimously recognized but for other measures this is not the case and they therefore deserve to be further studied to establish the most relevant recommendations for consumers. Some views on how to communicate these recommendations to consumers are presented, which make it possible to conclude that improvements could to be obtained through motivating the youngest consumers.     

Behaviour of Belgian consumers,related to the consumption,storage and preparation of cooked chilled foods

Cooked chilled foods or Refrigerated and Processed Foods of Extended Durability (REPFEDs) are a heterogeneous group of food products designed for consumer convenience. The consumer exposure to pathogenic microorganisms due to the consumption of REPFEDs is influenced by the industrial production process and by consumer behaviour. A consumer survey was organised and conducted to assess the consumption frequency, storage time, reheating practices and perception of and respect for the product's ‘use by’ date. The survey was conducted at a local food fair in Belgium with 874 respondents correctly completing the questionnaire. Over three quarters (77.5%, n = 677) had consumed at least one REPFED over the last year. Consumption frequency was the highest between the ages of 18 and 30. Nine out of ten consumers were able to give an acceptable estimate of the shelf life of REPFEDs (e.g. less than four weeks). By contrast, only half of the consumers (53.3%) fully respected the ‘use by’ date as indicated on the packaging. The majority of the remaining consumers (39.6%) would consume the product until three days past the ‘use by’ date; 2.5% of the consumers would still consume the product after more than three days past the ‘use by’ date and 4.6% did not consider the ‘use by’ date. In addition, only half of the consumers fully complied with the reheating instructions on the label, 36.5% only partially followed these instructions and 13.4% did not follow them at all. Data analysis showed that consumers, who did not respect the ‘use by’ date, were also less likely to follow the reheating instructions. To determine the distribution of the time a REPFED spends in a consumer fridge, the consumers were asked how frequently they bought REPFEDs and how they stored them. Using this information an attempt was made to construct a time-to-consumption (TTC) distribution. This TTC demonstrated that approx. 20% of REPFEDs was consumed on the day of purchase; about half (52.9%) were consumed within two days of purchase, 75.5% within four days and over 90% during the first week. These short storage times are likely to reduce the exposure to psychrotrophic microorganisms present in REPFEDs.     

The impacts of the food traceability system and consumer involvement on consumers' purchase intentions toward fast foods

This study aims to ascertain whether or not the Food Traceability System (FTS) can decrease an individual's perceived uncertainty and strengthen his/her purchase intention regarding fast foods. A website-based questionnaire study was conducted in Taiwan and a total of 435 valid subjects collected. The empirical results of structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis indicate that when a fast food store adopts FTS then consumers' perceived uncertainty can be reduced because both their perceived information asymmetry and fears of seller opportunism are also reduced, which in turn strengthen their purchase intentions regarding fast foods. In addition, with FTS, not only are both consumers' perceived product diagnosticity and informativeness are increased but consumers' trust in the farmer's records kept for this system is also increased, which in turn mitigate both consumers' perceived information asymmetry and fears of seller opportunism. Finally, the higher the degree of involvement an individual has and the more FTS mitigates his/her perceived uncertainty, the higher his/her purchase intention regarding fast foods than otherwise. Based on the findings from this study, attempts are made to provide some suggestions to the public health sector and the fast food marketers to promote FTS.     

沙特S49项目验潮站的建立方案与实施

几十年来，海洋石油勘探已成为各国石油公司地震勘探的重要领域，掌握勘探区域内的潮汐变化，对于海洋勘探施工以及最后的地震资料处理都是非常重要的。本文介绍了沙特S49项目工区内Qurayyah南部地区验潮站的建立方法及实施过程，并把所得到的验潮站的数据应用到S49项目水深测量的潮汐改正中，取得了较好的效果。     

Detection of Norovirus and Feline Calicivirus in spiked molluscs subjected to heat treatments

Aim of the study was the evaluation of the effect of heat treatment in shellfish experimentally contaminated with human Norovirus (NoV). Feline Calicivirus (FCV), often used as surrogate for human NoV, was examined in parallel to test for virus infectivity after treatment. The experiments were performed subjecting suspensions and spiked mussels to heat treatment (60 °C and 80 °C) for various times. Analysis by rRT-PCR showed a limited reduction of NoV (less than 1 log RT-PCR units ml⁻¹) and FCV (0.3-1.2 log TCID₅₀ ml⁻¹) both in virus suspensions and in spiked mussels, with the exception of NoV suspensions treated at 80 °C (reduction of 3 log RT-PCR units ml⁻¹). Cell culture assay showed that the infectious FCV in suspensions decreased of 4 log after 3 min of treatment while a lower reduction (2 log) was obtained in spiked samples treated for 15 min. Data showed that mussel matrix plays a protective role against heat inactivation of viruses. Despite the efficacy of rRT-PCR for viral nucleic acid detection, its inability to provide information on virus infectivity, represents a limit to the evaluation of product safety. Caution should therefore be used in the evaluation of efficacy of heat treatments on virus-contaminated foods and when the judgment of food product safety is based exclusively on rRT-PCR results.     

Awareness and attitudes towards the emerging use of nanotechnology in the agri-food sector

Nanotechnology has relevance to applications in all areas of agri-food including agriculture, aquaculture, production, processing, packaging, safety and nutrition. Scientific literature indicates uncertainties in food safety aspects about using nanomaterials due to potential health risks. To date the agri-food industry's awareness and attitude towards nanotechnology have not been addressed. We surveyed the awareness and attitudes of agri-food organisations on the island of Ireland (IoI) with regards to nanotechnology. A total of 14 agri-food stakeholders were interviewed and 88 agri-food stakeholders responded to an on-line questionnaire. The findings indicate that the current awareness of nanotechnology applications in the agri-food sector on the IoI is low and respondents are neither positive nor negative towards agri-food applications of nanotechnology. Safer food, reduced waste and increased product shelf life were considered to be the most important benefits to the agri-food industry. Knowledge of practical examples of agri-food applications is limited however opportunities were identified in precision farming techniques, innovative packaging, functional ingredients and nutrition of foods, processing equipment, and safety testing. Perceived impediments to nanotechnology adoption were potential unknown human health and environmental impacts, consumer acceptance and media framing. The need for a risk assessment framework, research into long term health and environmental effects, and better engagement between scientists, government bodies, the agri-food industry and the public were identified as important.