The public perception of food and non-food related risks of infection and trust in the risk communication during COVID-19 crisis: A study on selected countries from the Arab region

Dima Faour-Klingbeil; Tareq M Osaili; Anas A Al-Nabulsi; Monia Jemni; Ewen C D Todd

doi:10.1016/j.foodcont.2020.107617

The public perception of food and non-food related risks of infection and trust in the risk communication during COVID-19 crisis: A study on selected countries from the Arab region

Food Control. 2021 Mar:121:107617. doi: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2020.107617. Epub 2020 Sep 10.

Authors

Dima Faour-Klingbeil¹, Tareq M Osaili^{2

3}, Anas A Al-Nabulsi², Monia Jemni⁴, Ewen C D Todd⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Biological and Marine Sciences. University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, United Kingdom.
² Department of Nutrition and Food Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Jordan University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 3030, Irbid, 22110, Jordan.
³ Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, P. O. Box 27272, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
⁴ Regional Research Center in Oases Agriculture of Degache, Km1 Street of Tozeur, 2260, Degache-Tozeur, Tunisia.
⁵ Ewen Todd Consulting, Okemos, MI, USA.

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic caused a state of panic worldwide. Mixed messages were given about its risk and how to contain it, when trust in authorities and reliable scientific information are essential to reduce unnecessary scares and inappropriate risk perceptions. We know little about public concerns and opinions in health authorities in the Arab world. Thus, an attempt was made to generate such information through a web-based survey. A total of 1074 subjects from Lebanon, Jordan, and Tunisia were recruited to explore their perception of food and non-food risks of infection and the influence of the source of information, trust, and attitudes towards the local authorities' communication of risk. Seventy percent of the respondents were concerned that COVID-19 may be transmitted through food. The perception of risk from touching contaminated surfaces and food packaging and being exposed to infected people during food shopping was even higher. For only less than half of the respondents, the information from local authorities was considered trustworthy and the associated risk communication and response to false rumors were timely, effective, and clear. But the satisfaction level among the Jordanians was remarkably stronger than for the Lebanese and Tunisian respondents. The demographic factors, trust in information, and attitudes towards authorities' performance in risk communication did not influence risk perceptions. Respondents' knowledge was limited based on their chief sources of information, such as social media, local news media broadcasts, and announcements by the World Health Organization. Our conclusion is that unnecessary fear increases among the public when risks that impact heath are unknown. More research in the Arab region is needed to understand the determinants of risk perceptions considering psychological factors on the risk to health. Unfortunately, it is difficult to restrict or contain misleading information from various forms of social media. We recommend that for reducing fear and building confidence with the public for appropriate action during the pandemic, local authorities should enhance the quality and level of details of the information that they share during such crises.

Keywords: Arab region; COVID-19; Coronavirus; Public concern; Risk communication; Risk perception.