Abstract
Although foodborne illness is preventable, more than 56,000 people per year become ill in the U.S., creating high economic costs, loss of productivity and reduced quality of life for many. Experts agree that the home is the primary location where foodborne outbreaks occur; however, many consumers do not believe the home to be a risky place. Health care professionals need to be aware of consumers’ food safety attitudes and behaviors in the home and deliver tailored food safety interventions that are theory-based. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to synthesize/summarize the food safety literature by examining the following: consumers’ perceptions and attitudes towards food safety and their susceptibility to foodborne illness in the home, work, and school; common risky food safety practices and barriers to handling food safely; and the application of theory-based food safety interventions. Findings will help healthcare professionals become more aware of consumers’ food safety attitudes and behaviors and serve to inform future food safety interventions.
Highlights
IntroductionHeadlines and news flashes on widespread outbreaks of foodborne disease caused by lapses in food safety or emerging pathogens have provided vivid reminders that food nourishes and sustains us, but if handled unsafely, can be a major threat to health and well-being
In recent years, headlines and news flashes on widespread outbreaks of foodborne disease caused by lapses in food safety or emerging pathogens have provided vivid reminders that food nourishes and sustains us, but if handled unsafely, can be a major threat to health and well-being.According to FoodNet, the United States’ food safety report card, significant progress had been made toward decreasing foodborne illnesses caused by key pathogens, except Salmonella [1]
Just 12% of consumers believe it is very common for people to get foodborne illness at home [28], and only 7% of those who thought they had had a foodborne illness in the past year reported that home prepared foods were the most likely culprit [29]
Summary
Headlines and news flashes on widespread outbreaks of foodborne disease caused by lapses in food safety or emerging pathogens have provided vivid reminders that food nourishes and sustains us, but if handled unsafely, can be a major threat to health and well-being. According to FoodNet, the United States’ food safety report card, significant progress had been made toward decreasing foodborne illnesses caused by key pathogens, except Salmonella [1]. This decline is good news, but this rate is still higher than Healthy People 2020 goals [2] and many people continue to suffer the ill effects of foodborne illness [3,4,5]. Just 12% of consumers believe it is very common for people to get foodborne illness at home [28], and only 7% of those who thought they had had a foodborne illness in the past year reported that home prepared foods were the most likely culprit [29]. Only 12% of Europeans who suffered a foodborne illness felt it came from home prepared foods [30]
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