Who do UK consumers trust for information about nanotechnology?

Seda Erdem

doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2018.04.008

Abstract

This paper investigates UK consumers’ trust in sixteen information sources, from government institutions to food handlers and media, to provide accurate information about the use of nanotechnology in food production and packaging. We elicit the perceived trust using a well-known choice-based stated preference technique, namely best-worst scaling. The results from the analysis of a scale-adjusted latent class model show considerable heterogeneity in consumers’ perceptions of trust and choice variability. The findings from this study provide insights into the development of best practices and policies in risk communication and management for novel foods produced by nanotechnologies. More specifically, they highlight how targeted approaches can be used by policymakers responsible for disseminating information relating to novel technologies.

Highlights

Nanotechnology, which can be described as the creation and manipulation of materials at the nano scale, is one of the emerging technologies that has attracted considerable attention within the food industry
This was established using the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) and Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC), which are commonly used for model selection (Boxall and Adamowicz, 2002; Greene and Hensher, 2003)
This paper investigates UK consumers’ trust in sixteen institutions who may provide information about the use of nanotechnology in food production and packaging

Summary

Introduction

Nanotechnology, which can be described as the creation and manipulation of materials at the nano (one-billionth) scale, is one of the emerging technologies that has attracted considerable attention within the food industry. This attention has stemmed from the technology’s potential for developing innovative products and applications for food processing, preserving and packaging (FAO/WHO, 2013; Prasad et al, 2017; Chaudhry et al, 2017). It has the potential to extend shelf-life, enhance tastes and quality, reduce the need for preservatives, salt and fat, and improve the nutritional value of food (García et al, 2010; Chaudhry and Castle, 2011; Chaudhry et al, 2017). For the most part, these developments are still at the research and market development, or nearmarket stage (Chaudhry and Castle, 2011; Food Standards Agency, 2016)

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