Challenging the Hegemonic Food Discourse: The British Media Debate on Risk and Salmonella in Eggs

Abstract

The salmonella in eggs controversy in Britain in the late 1980s contributed to a partial dislocation of the hegemonic food discourse. This discourse had relied on a number of myths that are taken for granted, in particular the myth of managerial control. According to this myth, food risks had been successfully managed by a system of food production and a regulatory regime to ensure the safety and quality of the food. In the wake of the salmonella scandal the media debate formed part of a general politicisation of food safety where the managerial myth broke down. This resulted in a dislocation of the food discourse and a new social space opened for the existing myths to be contested and renegotiated. As a result, the media discourse played a role in either encouraging the preservation of the dominant values of the existing power structures or constituting a radical break with previous hegemonic conceptions of food production and consumption. Rethinking the concept of risk in terms of discourse analysis allows for an examination of the political origins of the arguments presented in the British media debate on salmonella. Risk is conceptualised as a signifier in the debate and a struggle takes place in the public domain in order to define and articulate the level of risk from salmonella contamination. On the one hand, the government and the farming industry maintained the manageability of the risk. Meanwhile, a critical discourse emerged questioning the scientific and regulatory hegemony within the area of food safety, the 'naturalness' of modern farming practices and the authorities' ability to manage safe food for the benefit of consumers.

The role of the media in construction and presentation of food risks

“…The media is widely reported as amplifying and misrepresenting the risk posed by food incidents (Frewer et al 2002, Harrington et al 2012, Roslyng 2011, Washer 2006 diminishing trust in the food supply (Henderson et al 2012). While the media is not the sole source of information about food risk nor the only actors amplifying risk information (Raupp 2014) there is evidence that media representations of risk can make it difficult for individuals to make decisions about which foods to buy (Ward et al 2012) and that media representations influence individuals' perception of the level of risk posed by food (Frewer, Miles and Marsh 2002;Frewer, Scholderer and Bredahl 2003;Raupp 2014).…”

The Food Chain Reforged: Novel Food Risk Arrangements and the Metamorphosis of a Metaphor

“…This is itself a surprising observation as recent literature on dioxins, BSE (see e.g. Paul, 2007;Feindt, 2011), salmonella (see Roslyng, 2011) and other food scares more or less self-evidently speaks of events in terms of 'food safety'. So did the informants in the research project on BSE and institutional innovation on which this paper draws.…”

“…A first observation is that prior to the series of 'food crises' [itself a discursive novelty (see Roslyng, 2011)] in the final decade of the past century the phrase 'food safety' was seldom used. A systematic query, conducted in 2007 and covering a period of two times 10 years underscores this observation.…”

“…The FMD epidemic that hit the United Kingdom (UK) in 2001, for instance, is considered one of the worst of its kind ever (Nerlich 2004). At the same time, in various countries there were scares over infections of foodstuffs with Escherichia coli, and over salmonella The Food Chain Reforged 233 found on eggs (see Roslyng, 2011). In addition, in several (other) European countries, there were deep concerns and societal upheavals over dioxins found in (alternatively pig, chicken and cattle) feed, and over the discovery of residues of a synthetic hormone (MPA) in pig feed.…”

Agro-food Crises: Institutional and Discursive Changes in the Food Scares Era

“…At the same time, incidents of E. coli and salmonella infection-and their greater potential-were widely reported in the mass media. First coined to denote the threat of salmonella infection (see Roslyng, 2011), the phrase 'food scare' became the umbrella term for describing food-borne diseases as well as cases of environmental pollution and risk-prone food production practices, such as the discovery of dioxins in pig and cattle feed or the discovery of residues of a synthetic hormone, MPA, in pig feed, that bore a potential risk for consumer safety.…”