Construction and validation of a psychometric scale to measure awareness on consumption of irradiated foods (original) (raw)
Related papers
CONSUMER AWARENESS ABOUT IRRADIATED FOOD: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW.
Background: Food irradiation is a process used for various purposes, ensuring food safety being its major application. Nevertheless, the great majority of potential consumers of irradiated food are still unaware of the basic concepts of irradiation, misinterpreting information and demonstrating a negative attitude towards the process. Scope and approach: Despite extensive research in the world on the acceptance of irradiated food, no study has yet been published that contemplates an overview of consumers\\\' awareness of the consumption of irradiated food. Therefore, the objective of this work was to conduct a systematic review to demonstrate the state of the art of consumer awareness about food irradiation. Key findings and conclusions: Five databases were searched, resulting in 1,192 studies out of which 66 articles have met the inclusion criteria. It was concluded that most consumers are unaware of the benefits of irradiated food. Another finding from this research was the fact that educational actions favorable to irradiated food positively influence changes in consumers? attitudes, while unfavorable information leads to negative ones. Some developed countries, such as the United States, tend to have a better willingness to buy irradiated food, while others tend to impose a stronger resistance. Therefore, new trends in the field of education and dissemination of irradiated food to consumers should be thought of as new ways to foster consumer acceptance and develop new market relations.
Journal of Food Processing and …, 2008
A survey on beliefs and purchase intent of irradiated foods was conducted among 300 Argentine students, covering secondary/high school, food science and nonfood science university, and 100 nonstudent adults. Other factors considered were the type of information provided (introductory, process description and benefits) and the city of residence (small agricultural city and big city). The most important benefits were considered to be microorganism reduction and improved sanitation. On the other hand, insecurity and doubts were the main reasons why respondents would not buy these foods. Only 14% said they would definitely buy irradiated foods. Considering their doubts and insecurities, it is probable that if these respondents see a food labeled as "irradiated," they would not choose to buy it. Within developing countries such as Argentina, the promotion of this technology by government agencies would be very costly, and at present, these costs would not seem to be justified. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS The negative perceptions of consumers would hinder the successful implementation of food irradiation. The doubts or insecurities that consumers of developing countries have are similar to those that consumers of developed countries have. Most respondents answered that irradiated foods should be labeled as such. If food irradiation was to be pursued further, the place to start would be in food science curricula as this is the basis of future professionals in charge of researching its use and/or implementing the process.
LWT - Food Science and Technology, 2006
Consumer awareness and acceptance, and influence of benefit statements and price on acceptance of irradiated foods were investigated in Turkey. Consumer awareness of food irradiation was very low (29%). Majority of consumers (80%) were uncertain about the safety of irradiated foods. Only 11% expressed irradiated foods are safe. Level of positive attitude towards irradiated foods increased substantially (62%) upon hearing a benefit statement of food irradiation. Purchase intent of irradiated foods was highest (44%) when price is same as unirradiated foods, but significant proportion of consumers indicated to pay 5% premium price for irradiated foods. A successful market for irradiated foods can be achieved by educating consumers with the benefit and uses of irradiation process.
Health concerns regarding consumption of irradiated food
International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 2004
Food irradiation is being promoted as a simple process that can be used to effectively and significantly reduce food-borne illnesses around the world. However, a thorough review ofthe literature reveals a paucity of adequate research conducted to specifically address health concerns that may directly result from the consumption of irradiated food. Consequently, there is considerable debate on the issue of health concerns from irradiated food among international agencies and between different nations. This report presents a critical review of scientific data and recommendations from different agencies and consumer groups. The objective of this review is to provide the scientific community and the general public with a balanced discussion on irradiated food from the viewpoint of an environmental or public health professional. As a ..-__.-_- .- .- ..-.~ .___._ _.__....._. in .._ .~ result of this review, the authors conclude that current evidence does not exist to substantiate the support or unconditional endorsement of irradiation of food for consumption. In addition, consumers are entitled to their right of choice in the consumption of irradiated versus unirradiated food. Different countries should further evaluate their local and global risks and benefits prior to developing and recommending national and international food irradiation policies.
Journal of Food Processing and Preservation, 2008
ABSTRACTA survey on beliefs and purchase intent of irradiated foods was conducted among 300 Argentine students, covering secondary/high school, food science and nonfood science university, and 100 nonstudent adults. Other factors considered were the type of information provided (introductory, process description and benefits) and the city of residence (small agricultural city and big city). The most important benefits were considered to be microorganism reduction and improved sanitation. On the other hand, insecurity and doubts were the main reasons why respondents would not buy these foods. Only 14% said they would definitely buy irradiated foods. Considering their doubts and insecurities, it is probable that if these respondents see a food labeled as “irradiated,” they would not choose to buy it. Within developing countries such as Argentina, the promotion of this technology by government agencies would be very costly, and at present, these costs would not seem to be justified.A survey on beliefs and purchase intent of irradiated foods was conducted among 300 Argentine students, covering secondary/high school, food science and nonfood science university, and 100 nonstudent adults. Other factors considered were the type of information provided (introductory, process description and benefits) and the city of residence (small agricultural city and big city). The most important benefits were considered to be microorganism reduction and improved sanitation. On the other hand, insecurity and doubts were the main reasons why respondents would not buy these foods. Only 14% said they would definitely buy irradiated foods. Considering their doubts and insecurities, it is probable that if these respondents see a food labeled as “irradiated,” they would not choose to buy it. Within developing countries such as Argentina, the promotion of this technology by government agencies would be very costly, and at present, these costs would not seem to be justified.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSThe negative perceptions of consumers would hinder the successful implementation of food irradiation. The doubts or insecurities that consumers of developing countries have are similar to those that consumers of developed countries have. Most respondents answered that irradiated foods should be labeled as such. If food irradiation was to be pursued further, the place to start would be in food science curricula as this is the basis of future professionals in charge of researching its use and/or implementing the process.The negative perceptions of consumers would hinder the successful implementation of food irradiation. The doubts or insecurities that consumers of developing countries have are similar to those that consumers of developed countries have. Most respondents answered that irradiated foods should be labeled as such. If food irradiation was to be pursued further, the place to start would be in food science curricula as this is the basis of future professionals in charge of researching its use and/or implementing the process.
Consumer Attitudes and Market Response to Irradiated Food
Journal of Food Protection
Results of consumer attitude and markets studies worldwide indicate consumers will accept irradiated food. Major studies in the United States indicate the number of consumers concerned about the safety of irradiated food has decreased in the last 10 years and continues to be less than the number of those concerned about pesticide residues, microbiological contamination, and other food-related concerns. The number of people reporting no concerns about irradiated food is among the lowest for food issues, comparable to that of people with no concern about food additives and preservatives. Numerous studies have demonstrated that acceptance increases when consumers are provided with information about specific advantages of the irradiation process. Consumers view irradiated meat and poultry products positively, with half or more interested in purchase. Concern about irradiation centers around safety, nutritional quality, potential harm to employees, and potential danger from living near a...
PloS one, 2016
In the wake of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident, to facilitate evidence-based risk communication we need to understand radiation risk perception and the effectiveness of risk-comparison information. We measured and characterized perceptions of dread risks and unknown risks regarding dietary radionuclides in residents of Fukushima, Tokyo, and Osaka to identify the primary factors among location, evacuation experience, gender, age, employment status, absence/presence of spouse, children and grandchildren, educational background, humanities/science courses, smoking habits, and various types of trustworthy information sources. We then evaluated the effects of these factors and risk-comparison information on multiple outcomes, including subjective and objective understanding, perceived magnitude of risk, perceived accuracy of information, backlash against information, and risk acceptance. We also assessed how risk-comparison information affected these multiple ou...
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2016
II.1 Food Technology Acceptance ……………………………………………...8 CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION I.1 Research Background The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 48 million cases of foodborne illness occur annually in the United States, resulting in 128,000 Americans hospitalized and 3,000 dying after eating contaminated food (Centers for Disease Control, 2019), at an estimated cost to the US economy of more than $14 billion (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). Tack et al. (2018) report that the incidences of identifiable infections in 2018 has increased. Research supports different perspectives on the best way to achieve consumer acceptance of food irradiation, such as risk and benefit information campaigns from health organizations and federal regulatory agencies (Eustice & Bruhn, 2007), improvement of risk management between consumers and social institutions (Sapp & Korsching, 2004), and labeling terminology as a method to remove stigmas (Ellen & Bone, 2008). Although research exists to explicate strategies for consumer adoption and acceptance of food irradiation, the communication of food risk still remains a highly complex field, in which no single set of recommendations can suit all situations. Many factors may affect food risk communication success, including trust in the source of information, perceived scientific uncertainty, interaction with the public, and cultural variation, as well as how the message is developed in terms of language, style, and pretesting with the target audience (Rollin et al., 2011). Therefore, more research is needed on consumer attitudes regarding decisions about buying irradiated foods. One important factor that affects consumer acceptance versus avoidance of irradiated food is cognitive biases that potentially underlie some of the consumer responses in this realm. For example, resistance to consumer adoption and 5 acceptance of food irradiation is shown to be related to safety concerns (He et al., 2005), resistance to new food technologies (Zachman & Østby , 2011), and risks versus benefits of contracting bacterial illness and irradiation (Eustice & Bruhn, 2007). In addition, negative information is shown to influence consumers' attitudes (Bruhn, 2007). Underlying these factors are cognitive biases that ultimately affect consumers' food purchase decisions. Identifying and correcting such biases can engage consumers and help reduce their perceived risks associated with food irradiation (Petty et al., 1998). The objective of this study is to examine how consumers respond to different product labels that are intended to counter certain common cognitive biases that may affect attitudes and risk perceptions of irradiated foods. Reported cases of foodborne illness continue to rise and irradiated foods continue to be limited to certain markets in part because many consumers, and even some policy makers, are still unaware of the effectiveness, safety, and functional benefits that irradiation can bring to foods (Eustice & Bruhn, 2007). Particularly missing from the literature is the role that marketing communications-and, specifically, labeling-plays in shaping the attitudes toward consumer acceptance and purchase of irradiated foods. I.3 Research Question Given that irradiation is a food technology that can dramatically reduce the incidence of foodborne illness, this study examines whether food labels designed to reduce cognitive biases will enhance attitudes and intentions to purchase and consume irradiated foods.
Food Safety and Consumer Perception to Irradiated Food Products in Ghana
Food production processes have a number of critical control points that influence the quality assurance in production processes. In Ghana, foodborne illnesses reported in hospitals is about 420,000 per year, with an annual death rate estimated at 65,000 costing $ 69 million to the Ghanaian economy. This research therefore assessed the knowledge level of food safety and consumer perception for irradiated food in the greater Accra region. The combination of data obtained from workshops and interviews gave overview of food safety and consumer perception to irradiated food products. Data were analysed with SPSS and to map the mental models of those involved in the workshop, a Vensim software program was used. The survey report showed that even though respondents were told of the sterility assurance level of food irradiation, about 80 percent of them rejected irradiation processing until educated. All respondents have experiences food borne illness before. Majority of the interviewed respondents (85%) express some degree of concern over the safety of the food supply and some are willing to pay 10% premium for irradiated foods. The mental model revealed that demand for safer convenient food emphasised the need for refining food policy and increasing critical control point’s inspection by the standard authorities. This will lead to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) and safer foods than it would otherwise be and hence promote public health. It is suggested that there is a need to refine food safety policy to include irradiation processing, which can respond to both domestic and global challenges.