Abstract
Following the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, the risk level perceived by Koreans on the radioactive contamination of Japanese food that is being distributed in Korea remains high. Many of these perceptions are based on subjective risk perception rather than an objective measure with scientific evidence, which makes communicating risks more difficult; therefore, it is critical to understand factors associated with risk perception for effective risk communication. In this study, we identified variables that are associated with buying tendencies and opinions about the regulatory policy of Japanese seafood after the accident. A survey was conducted with 1045 adults aged over 20 years in Korea. The majority (68.8%) responded that they would not purchase Japanese seafood when radioactivity levels in the food were non-detectable. Moreover, 82.2% responded that the current levels of import restrictions on Japanese seafood must be maintained. Despite many concerns regarding the exposure to radiation and the effects from food products following the Fukushima accident, the opportunities to encounter and to collect correct information remain limited and average radioactive knowledge scores were low (3.63 out of 9). Of the various characteristics associated with purchase decisions and agreement on the current import restraints of Japanese seafood, trust levels in the government and the mass media for providing information on radioactivity were major factors that influenced risk perception. While the scope of this study was limited to seafood, it is very closely tied to daily lives, where we revealed differences about risk perceptions and agreement on import restraints of Japanese seafood per a complex mixture of individual characteristics and the surrounding environment. These results provide useful information to understand the risk perception of the potential radioactive contamination of food and to predict the public’s responses to food consumption and import restraint policies due to nuclear accidents in neighboring countries.
Highlights
Following the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant accident that occurred in March of 2011 in Japan, the world responded with concerns towards the radioactivity contamination of Japanese food and a subsequent decrease in the purchase of Japanese food [1,2,3]
The survey questions were developed by experts in the field of radiation, food safety, risk perception, and communication, and the final copy of the survey questions was reviewed by a committee of civilian experts, which consisted of 10 experts from academia, non-governmental organizations (NGO), and public office, to clarify and validate the questionnaire, and to amend the questionnaire with more understandable terms, especially for questions examining radiation knowledge and the contents of basic information about radioactivity and radiation
Relating to information searching activities and levels of radiation knowledge, a previous study [18] reported that 19.1% of the respondents searched for information relating to the Fukushima accident; this study reported similar results with 17.4% of the respondents knowing that the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) website was providing information on the management of radioactivity in imported food on a daily basis, and 17.7% of the respondents referring to the information provided by the MFDS when purchasing food products
Summary
Following the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant accident that occurred in March of 2011 in Japan, the world responded with concerns towards the radioactivity contamination of Japanese food and a subsequent decrease in the purchase of Japanese food [1,2,3]. While the Korean government consistently requested information on the management of radioactive contamination of Japanese food and its transparency, the Japanese media reported daily discharges of hundreds of tons of radioactive contaminated material. Some organizations in Korea asked for a complete import ban from Japanese food products [7,8], and following the news releases [9,10] on the discharge of contaminated water and the presence of radioactive material in seafood, the majority of Korean citizens remained concerned about the radioactive contamination of Japanese seafood and the related government management policies. One must first identify the level of risk perception on radioactive contaminated food and the factors influencing such perceptions
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