Need for Targeted General Consumer Food Safety Education Programs: Findings from a Nationally Representative Survey of U.S. Adults

Introduction:  Food safety education materials must be tailored to meet the needs of specific population groups if they are to be effective at influencing positive behavior change.   The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between demographic characteristics of U.S. adults and their perceived risk for contracting foodborne disease across various types of food settings.

Methods: A Web-panel survey was administered to a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults (N=1,051). Nine items from a 27-item instrument were used to determine respondent’s perceived risk of contracting a foodborne disease from various types of food settings. Goodness-of-fit or ANOVA tests were used to calculate weighted percentages of respondents’ risk perceptions across select demographic characteristics.

Results: As level of education increased, respondents reported being less concerned about home prepared foods (p=0.0101). Perceived risk of contracting foodborne disease from home prepared foods, restaurants, and grocery stores was higher for females than males (56.48% vs. 45.55%, 59.18% vs. 53.87%, and 50.08% vs. 40.43%, respectively). Compared to other racial groups, more Black consumers showed concern regarding food safety in grocery stores (15.23%), restaurants (24.18%), and farms (11.66%). As age increases, consumers reported being less confident in the safety of imported food (p<0.0001).

Discussion: Identifying the relationship between the demographic characteristics of U.S. adults and their perceptions of risk for contracting a foodborne disease is necessary for informing the development of effective food safety education materials.