Consumer Food Safety Perceptions and Practices in a Turkish Community

Abstract

Research has shown that most reported foodborne outbreaks are caused by food prepared and consumed at home, thus emphasizing the importance of consumer food safety knowledge. In this study, 2,000 randomly selected residents from Çanakkale, Turkey, participated in face-to-face interviews to assess their food safety perceptions and practices. Questions covered the attention given to expiration dates, safety certificates, and food additives during shopping; consumption of high-risk foods; safe food handling; storage knowledge; and their source of food safety knowledge. Statistical analyses were done to clarify the differences according to three main aspects: gender, age, and educational level. Results showed that women and middle-aged respondents were significantly more careful during shopping and more interested in food safety issues than men and younger individuals. A significant relationship was found between gender and consumption of high-risk foods, with men consuming more of these foods than women. Furthermore, high-risk foods were more frequently consumed by young participants than by older participants, with more highly educated consumers shopping more consciously. Although most respondents appeared to know proper food handling and storage practices, almost all participants lacked some information on some issues. In order to remove these deficiencies, a brochure was prepared and distributed to people in various parts of the city. In addition, public seminars were organized. However, to ensure that this information results in positive attitude and behavioral changes, seminars should be repeated at specific intervals, and education procedures and processes should be controlled regularly.

Comparison of consumer knowledge about Campylobacter, Salmonella and Toxoplasma and their transmissibility via meat: results of a consumer study in Germany

“…This is also coincident with results from Lin et al [15]. Women are significantly more interested in food safety issues than men, although there is no statistically significant relationship between gender and food safety knowledge [35]. This is confirmed in other studies [54,55].…”

“…Younger consumers are less interested in food safety issues than older consumers are [35]. This could explain why the knowledge about Campylobacter in our study differed statistically significant by age group, and young adults < 20 years were the least informed.…”

“…Although 116 consumers indicated that they knew how they could protect themselves, 36.2% (42/116) did not know that transmission occurs via meat. In general, consumers are aware that food-borne infections are often associated with chicken meat [34,35], but an international comparison also shows that consumers do not know that meat is a vector of Campylobacter. An Australian study showed that only 9% of consumers associate Campylobacter with chicken and poultry [16].…”

“…Of the young adults between 16 and 19 years of age, 35.8% (63/176) knew about Salmonella but did not know how to protect themselves, and 55.1% (97/176) knew about Salmonella and how to protect themselves. Of the > 60-year-old participants, 13.6% (22/162) knew about Salmonella but did not know how to protect themselves, while 85.2% (138/162) said they knew how to protect themselves from infection.…”

Study of Animal-Based Food Product Labeling use

“…In essence, the information of product's expiration date was used by the consumers to suppress the negative risk of the product, thus avoid direct risks of consuming the products, such as food poisoning, sickness, or even death and any other risks. A study by Zorba and Kaptan (2011) also showed that reading the expiration date in the product's label would give a sense of security for the consumers. A rather surprising result in this study is that the respondents' health condition did not affect their behavior in reading the product's label (p≥0.05).…”