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Food Safety and Behavior Change

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A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Quality and Safety".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2022) | Viewed by 43678

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ingela Marklinder

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Guest Editor

Department of Food Studies, Nutrition and Dietetics, Uppsala University, Box 560, S-751 22 Uppsala, Sweden
Interests: food microbiology; food safety; fermented foods; consumer health; health communication theories; food safety attitude; knowledge and behavior; food safety education

Dr. Elizabeth Redmond

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Co-Guest Editor

ZERO2FIVE Food Industry Centre, Cardiff Metropolitan Univeristy, Cardiff, Wales, UK
Interests: domestic food safety behavior; behavioral change; intervention design and effectiveness; at risk groups of consumers; infant feeding safety; food safety culture; food-handler cognitive influences/behavior

Dr. Sanja Ilic

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Co-Guest Editor

Human Nutrition, Department of Human Sciences, College of Education and Human Ecology, 331b Campbell Hall, 1787 Neil Ave, Columbus, The Ohio State University, OH 43210, USA
Interests: food safety behaviors; high-risk populations; bacteriology; microbiome; fresh produce safety; hydroponic produce

Dr. Jennifer J. Quinlan

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor

Department of Nutrition Sciences and Department of Food and Hospitality Management, Drexel University, Three Parkway Building, Rm 3911601 Cherry St., Philadelphia, PA 19102, USA
Interests: food safety; consumer education; behavioral change; vulnerable populations; food waste; food insecurity

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Food safety remains a public health priority and a major concern worldwide. According to the WHO, an estimated 600 million (1 in 10 people globally) fall ill due to consumption of contaminated foods every year, and 420,000 die resulting in the loss of 33 million healthy life years (DALYs). Understanding how to prevent foodborne infections is critical to improve public health and wellbeing.

The majority of foodborne outbreaks and cases can be prevented through appropriate behavior change. The role of food safety education in preventing foodborne illnesses is critical. Food safety knowledge has traditionally been an important factor to improve food safety. However, despite stakeholder investment in food safety education efforts, appropriate behaviors that could lead to a reduction in food safety risks remain a challenge both for consumers and food-handlers. Therefore, an in-depth and improved understanding of the factors associated with food safety behavior change is required.

Human behaviors are determined by multiple internal and external factors. Factors related to food safety behavior change are often described using health behavior theories. Such theories are used to explain and predict the implementation of safe food practices by consumers and food-handlers, and to develop interventions that will produce effective behavior changes. In this Special Issue, important factors that influence food safety behaviors in primary production, processing, retail, and among consumers, will be explored. To increase our understanding of factors that influence behavior change and reduce the incidence of foodborne illness, high-quality research contributions are invited within the following fields of interest:

Food safety knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors by stakeholders in primary production, processing, retail, preparation and consumption.
Application and effectiveness of food safety education approaches/interventions
Application of behavior change theories in food safety research.
Role of healthcare providers in delivery of food safety information; implications for patients/consumers.

Dr. Ingela Marklinder
Dr. Elizabeth Redmond
Dr. Sanja Ilic
Dr. Jennifer J. Quinlan
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

food safety
behavior change
food safety education
health communication theories
risk communication
food safety attitude, knowledge and behavior

Published Papers (11 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 823 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of Flour Safety Messages on Commercially Available Packages: An Eye-Tracking Study

by Merlyn S. Thomas, Zachary R. Berglund, Megan Low, Isabella M. Bryan, Reyhan Soewardjono and Yaohua Feng

Foods 2022, 11(19), 2997; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11192997 - 27 Sep 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2076

Abstract

Wheat flour and baking mix have been associated with foodborne outbreaks and recalls, yet many consumers are unaware of the repercussions of consuming raw flour products. The objective of this study was to evaluate the accessibility of flour safety messages on commercially available packages and to identify consumer barriers to processing these messages. Eye-tracking technology was used to track the eye movements of 47 participants to assess their time to fixation (TTF) on the flour safety messages on 10 commercial packages. Notifications that were longer than one sentence were considered “long” messages, while notifications that consisted of only one sentence were considered short (S1–S5 and L1–L5). Only two participants (4.3%) found messages on all 10 packages. Highly accessible messages did not result in a high preference of presentation among participants. Most of the participants (98%) found the message on the S4 package, which correlated with the lowest TTF of 7.08 s. However, only 15% of those who found the S4 message chose it as their preferred message. Many participants who were interviewed said that they preferred messages that identified the reasoning for the warnings. They also preferred the messages that were well separated from other content on the package. Flour safety messages on the current packages are not effective to convey information and change consumer behavior. More science-based messaging strategies need to be developed to provide guidance for flour safety communication. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Safety and Behavior Change)

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12 pages, 756 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Structural Equation Model Demonstrating the Relationship between Food Safety Background, Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviour among Swedish Students

by Ingela Marklinder, Gustav Eskhult, Roger Ahlgren, Anna Blücher, Stina-Mina Ehn Börjesson, Madeleine Moazzami, Jenny Schelin and Marie-Louise Danielsson-Tham

Foods 2022, 11(11), 1595; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11111595 - 28 May 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2897

Abstract

Traditionally, food safety knowledge has been seen as a factor in improving food safety behaviour. However, the relationship between knowledge and behavior is complex. The aim of the present study was to investigate self-reported data from 408 university students regarding food safety background, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour using Structural Equation Model (SEM) to examine the influence of different factors on food safety behaviour. The SEM was applied to four factors derived from the data: Background, Knowledge, Attitude and Behaviour. The novelty of this current investigation is the inclusion of the Background factor (genus; experience of cooking and handling different food items; experience of a food safety education course; the foremost sources of food safety knowledge). The factors were constructed from variables with sufficient factor loadings and set up in a predetermined structure confirmed to be valid in previous studies. The results, demonstrated as regression coefficients between factors, confirm that the Background factor strongly influenced Knowledge (0.842). The Knowledge factor, in turn, strongly affected Attitude (0.605), while it did not directly affect Behaviour (0.301) in the same way as Attitude. Attitude had a stronger influence on Behaviour (0.438) than Knowledge. Thus, the Attitude factor seemed to play a mediating role between Knowledge and Behaviour. This indicates that students´ attitudes towards the importance of food safety may have an impact on their food safety behavior, which should have implications for the development of food safety education. This warrants further investigation and practical development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Safety and Behavior Change)

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19 pages, 656 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Evaluation of a Virtual Food Safety Program for Low-Income Families: Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior

by Juan C. Archila-Godínez, Han Chen, Leah Klinestiver, Lia Rosa, Tressie Barrett, Shauna C. Henley and Yaohua Feng

Foods 2022, 11(3), 355; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11030355 - 26 Jan 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4960

Abstract

Low-income families are reported to have a limited knowledge of food safety and resources to follow food safety practices compared with the rest of the population. This paper evaluated a virtual food safety educational program targeting food handlers in low-income families. Trained native speakers of English and Spanish delivered course materials in both languages. A total of 60 individuals participated in the program, with 30 participants in each language group. Most were female, and most had fewer than three children. After the program, participants’ food safety knowledge and self-reported safe food practice behavior scores increased significantly from 5.32 to 7.43 (out of 8.00) and from 24.78 to 29.30 (out of 35.00), respectively. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) was used to understand individuals’ behavior change intention of food safety practices. All the TPB constructs’ scores, including attitudes toward the behavior, perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, and behavior change intentions, were improved significantly; however, only the subjective norms and perceived behavioral control were significantly correlated with the behavior change intentions. This virtual educational program improved low-income individuals’ food safety knowledge and changed their food safety attitudes and behaviors, giving a path to develop and evaluate more virtual food safety educational programs in the future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Safety and Behavior Change)

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12 pages, 555 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Knowledge, Practices, and Risk Perception Associated with Foodborne Illnesses among Females Living in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

by Tareq M. Osaili, Balsam Qubais Saeed, Sadi Taha, Ahmed Omar Adrees and Fayeza Hasan

Foods 2022, 11(3), 290; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11030290 - 21 Jan 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3530

Abstract

Foodborne illnesses are a widespread and growing public health concern worldwide. The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge, practices, and risk perception pertaining to food safety among females living in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was undertaken consisting of 827 female participants between January to April 2020. The study showed that the overall food safety risk perception was below satisfactory (53.3%). The highest score was seen in the “recognition of foodborne illnesses” aspect (76.7%). The participants were aware of “personal hygiene and cleaning” (61.7%), “cross-contamination prevention” (62.5%), “food purchasing” (60.0%), and “storage of frozen foods” (55.6%). The participants had a low level of knowledge pertaining to “food cooking” (26.0%) and “risk of microbiological infection” (13.3%). There was a statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05) association between knowledge and practices of respondents with employment status, age, and educational levels. In conclusion, the female respondents might act as vehicles for the spread of foodborne illnesses. To reduce this risk, providing food safety awareness programs to this portion of the population is paramount. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Safety and Behavior Change)

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18 pages, 302 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

What Is Safe and How Much Does It Matter? Food Vendors’ and Consumers’ Views on Food Safety in Urban Nigeria

by Stella Nordhagen, James Lee, Nwando Onuigbo-Chatta, Augustine Okoruwa, Eva Monterrosa, Elisabetta Lambertini and Gretel H. Pelto

Foods 2022, 11(2), 225; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11020225 - 14 Jan 2022

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 4413

Abstract

This study examines the food safety beliefs of vendors and consumers in a mid-sized Nigerian city using data from in-depth interviews and cognitive mapping techniques drawn from ethnography. We examine vendors’ and consumers’ perspectives on which foods are safe, which are not, and why; the place of foodborne illness among other health concerns and motivators of food choice; and how salient food safety is as a concern for vendors. The main perceived causes of unsafe food were found to be chemicals and insects; while bacterial illnesses were widely mentioned as a cause of gastrointestinal symptoms, these were not necessarily linked to food in consumers’ minds. Respondents agreed strongly that certain foods (e.g., cowpea, beef, green leafy vegetables, and local rice) were less safe than others. The importance of food safety as a choice motivator among consumers varies depending on framing: when asked directly, it was prominent and closely related to visible cleanliness, but concerns about food safety competed in consumers’ minds against other salient motivators of food and vendor choice, such as price. Most vendors did not see food safety, cleanliness, or hygiene as a key trait of a successful vendor, and just over half of vendors had any concern about the safety of their food. In conclusion, we note the implications for intervention designs, particularly the need to build upon consumers’ and vendors’ current beliefs and practices related to food safety in order to make foodborne disease prevention a more salient concern in food choice. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Safety and Behavior Change)

13 pages, 260 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Use of Focus Groups to Identify Food Safety Risks for Older Adults in the U.S.

by Melissa Kavanaugh, Kathleen Fisher and Jennifer J. Quinlan

Foods 2022, 11(1), 37; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11010037 - 24 Dec 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2642

Abstract

Older adults are vulnerable to foodborne illness; however, many do not follow safe food handling guidelines that would reduce their risk of infection. Virtual focus groups were used to explore older adults’ food handling and consumption practices and to understand how to apply the Health Belief Model for food safety research with respect to older adults. Thirty-nine adults between the ages of 56 and 80 participated in the study. Most participants reported eating poultry and eggs, whereas few reported eating precut fruit or raw sprouts. The majority were not using a cooking thermometer for all types of poultry and did report washing raw poultry. Participants were generally resistant to the idea of heating deli meats. Most focus group participants did not perceive themselves as being personally susceptible to foodborne illness. They did, however, express food safety concerns related to specific foods, such as melons and bagged salads, and they reported taking precautions to limit health risks from these foods. Regarding the Health Belief Model, our results indicate that the construct of perceived susceptibility could be expanded to include perceived risk, which refers to an individual’s belief about the likelihood that a food might be contaminated with a foodborne pathogen. These results should be confirmed among a nationally representative sample of older adults. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Safety and Behavior Change)

16 pages, 693 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Evaluation of the Hygiene Practices of Polish Street Food Vendors in Selected Food Trucks and Stands

by Michał Wiatrowski, Ewa Czarniecka-Skubina, Joanna Trafiałek and Elżbieta Rosiak

Foods 2021, 10(11), 2640; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10112640 - 31 Oct 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 5733

Abstract

Today, street food vending is becoming a dynamically developing food industry in Europe, including Poland. Lifestyle changes and socioeconomic factors, especially among young consumers, make it a convenient food alternative, even in countries without this tradition. The aim of the study was to evaluate hygiene conditions and practices in selected street food facilities in Poland. The study was carried out in accordance with an observation checklist developed on the basis of the hygienic requirements of the European Union. The study covered 550 randomly selected street food vendors in Poland in 10 cities. The hygiene of street food outlets was assessed in three aspects: ensuring proper production conditions, hygiene of production and distribution, and hygiene of personnel. The evaluation of street food outlets showed that the level of hygiene was not fully acceptable. A small percentage of the examined objects satisfactorily fulfilled the requirements of the production conditions, production and distribution hygiene, and staff hygiene. The proposed hygienic checklist for quick daily monitoring of street food outlets can be used to perform internal and external inspections. It seems that specific codes of conduct for European street foods facilities are necessary. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Safety and Behavior Change)

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12 pages, 265 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Food Safety Knowledge and Practices of Pregnant Women and Postpartum Mothers in Slovenia

by Mojca Jevšnik, Anja Česen, Marina Šantić and Andrej Ovca

Foods 2021, 10(10), 2412; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10102412 - 12 Oct 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2699

Abstract

Food safety during pregnancy and postpartum is important for preventing foodborne diseases, while pregnant women are considered vulnerable due to their immunomodulatory condition. The current study aimed to investigate the self-reported food safety knowledge and practices of pregnant women and postpartum mothers in Slovenia using an online questionnaire and to compare the results with nonpregnant women as a control group. The study was conducted with 426 women, of whom 145 were pregnant, 191 were not pregnant, and 90 were postpartum. The online questionnaire consisted of questions related to food safety risk perception, hand hygiene, food purchase, food storage, food preparation and handling of infant formula and breast milk. The results showed that women generally have basic knowledge of proper food handling and are aware of food safety, but some specific gaps were identified in food handling at home, especially concerning microbiological risks. However, the results showed that pregnant women performed better than the postpartum group, and both groups performed significantly better than the nonpregnant group. The media was most frequently cited as a source of food safety information, especially by the pregnant group. Trained health workers should also inform women on how to ensure food safety in the home environment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Safety and Behavior Change)

15 pages, 298 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Awareness and Attitudes of Student Dietitians in Lebanon, UK and USA towards Food Safety

by Ellen W. Evans, Elizabeth C. Redmond, Nisreen Alwan and Sanja Ilic

Foods 2021, 10(8), 1875; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10081875 - 13 Aug 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4085

Abstract

Allied health professionals such as dietitians can play a critical role in providing food safety advice to vulnerable consumers. To maximize food-related health and wellbeing, food needs to be safe and nutritious; consequently, food safety is referred to in international curricula for the training of dietitians. The purpose of this study was to explore the awareness and attitudes of student dietitians from three international institutions towards food safety. A total of 207 student dietitians participated in the study from Columbus, OH, USA (n = 99), Cardiff, Wales, UK (n = 78) and Beirut, Lebanon (n = 30). Completion of the study established that the students in three dietetic training programs lacked awareness of key food safety concepts. Close to half (43%) were not familiar with Campylobacter, with the USA students being significantly less knowledgeable (p < 0.001) with 58% being unaware of the pathogen. Understanding of safe handling of leftovers was the lowest for the students in all institutions; only 46% described appropriate reheating practices, with significantly lower (p < 0.001) understanding in Lebanon (28%). The students reported a good understanding of vulnerable populations and perceived food safety to be important for these groups. However, the knowledge of certain high-risk foods was lacking. For instance, 69% of students thought that fresh squeezed juices and smoothies made with raw fruits and vegetables were safe for vulnerable patients, with the UK students being the least familiar with this risk (16%). This is the first study of its kind to take an international perspective of student dietitian food safety awareness and attitudes; the findings are important to dietetic food safety educators and recommendations are made to further explore the interpretation of food safety requirements in international dietetic curricula. Future studies should extend student dietetic research to address attitudes, self-efficacy and the overall readiness to deliver food safety advice to the patients and the community. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Safety and Behavior Change)

Review

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14 pages, 575 KiB

Open AccessReview

Conflicting Issues of Sustainable Consumption and Food Safety: Risky Consumer Behaviors in Reducing Food Waste and Plastic Packaging

by Gyula Kasza, Nina Veflen, Joachim Scholderer, Lars Münter, László Fekete, Eszter Zita Csenki, Annamária Dorkó, Dávid Szakos and Tekla Izsó

Foods 2022, 11(21), 3520; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11213520 - 04 Nov 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4794

Abstract

Food-related consumer decisions have an impact on the environment. However, trending patterns of sustainable consumption often pose a challenge for food-safety authorities: these initiatives may unintentionally compromise food safety. The objective of this review is to support public agencies in the integration of sustainability issues into food-safety risk communication schemes. Environmentally conscious but risky behaviors aimed at the reduction of food waste and plastic packaging were chosen for discussion and scrutinized based on expert opinions. Those expert opinions clearly indicated that a significant part of environmentally conscious behaviors, such as removing mold, eating expired perishable food, overstoring leftovers, avoiding single-use plastic packaging even when cross-contamination is a threat, and using reusable bags without cleaning for a long time, often contribute to food-safety risks. Short, easy-to-remember messages were collected for each recognized risky behavior; they concentrated on prevention or providing an alternative that was still environmentally sensible but kept food-safety risks low (such as planning ahead to avoid leftovers, freezing leftovers in time, and sanitizing reusable bags). The identified challenges and solutions might encourage authorities to rethink their risk-communication practices and integrate a sustainability aspect in them. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Safety and Behavior Change)

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13 pages, 948 KiB

Open AccessReview

Sociocultural Factors Influencing Human Streptococcus suis Disease in Southeast Asia

by Anusak Kerdsin, Mariela Segura, Nahuel Fittipaldi and Marcelo Gottschalk

Foods 2022, 11(9), 1190; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11091190 - 20 Apr 2022

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3129

Abstract

The public health systems of Southeast Asian countries are financially challenged by a comparatively higher incidence of human S. suis infections than other geographical areas. Efforts to improve practices in production settings, including improved meat inspection regulations, prevention of the slaughtering of non-healthy pigs, and enhanced hygiene practices at processing facilities, along with improvements in the pork supply chain, all appear promising for reducing food cross-contamination with S. suis. However, opportunities for intervention at the societal level are also needed to effect changes, as population behaviors such as the consumption of raw pork, blood, and offal products are important contributors to the increased incidence of human S. suis disease in Southeast Asia. A plethora of factors are associated with the consumption of these high-risk dishes, including traditional culture and knowledge, shared beliefs, socio-economic level, and personal attitudes associated with gender and/or marital status. Education and intervention in behavioral attitudes that are sensible to cultural practices and traditions may provide additional means to reduce the burden of S. suis human disease in Southeast Asia. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Safety and Behavior Change)

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