Consumer Food Safety Knowledge, Practices, and Demographic Differences: Findings from a Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Risk communication and consumer education to promote safer handling of food can be the best way of managing the risk of foodborne illness at the consumer end of the food chain. Thus, an understanding of the overall status of food handling knowledge and practices is needed. Although traditional qualitative reviews can be used for combining information from several studies on specific food handling behaviors, a structured approach of meta-analysis can be more advantageous in a holistic assessment. We combined findings from 20 studies using meta-analysis methods to estimate percentages of consumers engaging in risky behaviors, such as consumption of raw food, poor hygiene, and cross-contamination, separated by various demographic categories. We estimated standard errors to reflect sampling error and between-study random variation. Then we evaluated the statistical significance of differences in behaviors across demographic categories and across behavioral measures. There were considerable differences in behaviors across demographic categories, possibly because of socioeconomic and cultural differences. For example, compared with women, men reported greater consumption of raw or undercooked foods, poorer hygiene, poorer practices to prevent cross-contamination, and less safe defrosting practices. Mid-age adults consumed more raw food (except milk) than did young adults and seniors. High-income individuals reported greater consumption of raw foods, less knowledge of hygiene, and poorer cross-contamination practices. The highest raw ground beef and egg consumption and the poorest hygiene and cross-contamination practices were found in the U.S. Mountain region. Meta-analysis was useful for identifying important data gaps and demographic groups with risky behaviors, and this information can be used to prioritize further research.

Knowledge, attitudes and self-reported practices of food service staff in nursing homes and long-term care facilities

“…Overall, studies on food safety are inconsistent with regard to the relationship between risk perception and age (Klontz, Timbo, Fein, & Levy, 1995). Moreover, our findings are consistent with those of other studies, in which lower education levels were reported to be associated with safer food handling behaviours (Altekruse, Yang, Timbo, & Angulo, 1999;Medeiros, Hillers, Kendall, & Mason, 2001;Patil, Cates, & Morales, 2005).…”

Food Safety Training Needs for Evacuation Shelters Operated by Faith-Based Organizations

“…It was apparent that food safety training was not adequately provided to volunteers who are members of the general public. Previous studies showed inadequate food handling practices for the general public (Kwon, Wilson, Bednar, & Kennon, 2008;Patil et al, 2005;Redmond & Griffith, 2003). Therefore, the lack of food safety training may present an increased risk for foodborne illness for a large group of people served at these volunteer-run operations.…”

“…Personal hygiene is one of the major challenging areas in consumer food handling practices (Patil et al, 2005;Redmond & Griffith, 2003) and potential contamination by consumers may be further increased by utilizing self-service and family-style service options, which were frequently used by our participants (n = 57, 41.3%). A case study conducted by Dippold and co-authors (2003) showed that a lack of sneeze guards at the buffet line, which act as a barrier between individuals and the food served, could have contributed to an outbreak of gastroenteritis.…”

“…A metaanalysis and a review of previous research studies showed that cross contamination, personal hygiene, and consumption of raw or uncooked food items were common among the general public (Patil, Cates, & Morales, 2005;Redmond & Griffith, 2003). Finch and Daniel (2005) contended that the risk of foodborne illnesses in the emergency operations increased because of donated food that passed through multiple points in transition, emergency food workers' lack of food safety knowledge, and improper food handling behaviors.…”

Consumer practices for purchase, storage, and preparation of poultry and eggs in selected north and south american countries: a pilot study

“…Income, age, race, and gender are commonly collected demographics that could predict behavior characteristics. Thus far, studies have found male consumers to be less aware of food safety practices and that high income does not necessarily predict knowledge of food safety practices (9).…”