Food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices among consumers in developing countries: An international survey

Olumide A Odeyemi; Norrakiah Abdullah Sani; Adewale Olusegun Obadina; Courage Kosi Setsoafia Saba; Florence A Bamidele; Mahmoud Abughoush; Ali Asghar; Fabrice Fabien Dongho Dongmo; Darryl Macer; Ali Aberoumand

doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2018.10.030

Food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices among consumers in developing countries: An international survey

Food Res Int. 2019 Feb:116:1386-1390. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2018.10.030. Epub 2018 Oct 11.

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Launceston, Australia; Food Safety and Quality Unit, Centre for Research, Training and Development, Higis International Foundation, Nigeria. Electronic address: olumide.odeyemi@utas.edu.au.
² School of Chemical Sciences and Food Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, National University of Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
³ Deparment of Food Science and Technology, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria.
⁴ Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, University for Development Studies, Ghana.
⁵ Department of Biological sciences, School of Applied Science, Yaba College of Technology, Nigeria.
⁶ Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Hashemite University, P.O. Box 150459, Zarqa 13115, Jordan.
⁷ National Institute of Food Science and Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
⁸ Laboratory of Biochemistry, University of Douala, Douala, Cameroon.
⁹ American University of Sovereign Nations, Arizona, USA.
¹⁰ Behbahan Khatam Alanbia University of Technology, Behbahan, Iran.

PMID: 30716930
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2018.10.030

Abstract

An international survey among consumers in developing countries from Asia and Africa on food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) was carried out using structured questionnaires. Data were collected from 453 consumers comprising 265 from Africa and 188 from Asia. Significant difference (p < 0.05) on food safety knowledge attitude and practice between consumers from Africa and Asia was observed. In Africa, consumers in Cameroon had the least food safety knowledge (73.15 ± 16.43) compared to Ghana (78.19 ± 15.84) and Nigeria (88.16 ± 8.88). Similarly, consumers in Iran had the least food safety knowledge (73.33 ± 19.84) in Asia compared to Malaysia (88.36 ± 11.64) and Pakistan (89.42 ± 9.89). Among the respondents, 89% were aware of food poisoning while 304 (67.1%) consume food kept for long at room temperature. There was significant difference (p < 0.05) in food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices of consumers between Africa and Asia. Overall, respondents from Asia have better food safety knowledge than respondents from Africa.

Keywords: Consumers; Food borne infections; Hygiene; Microbial food safety.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Asia
Developing Countries
Female
Food Handling
Food Safety*
Foodborne Diseases
Ghana
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice*
Humans
Iran
Jordan
Knowledge
Malaysia
Male
Nigeria
Pakistan
Surveys and Questionnaires
Young Adult