A Closer Look at Changes in High-Risk Food-Handling Behaviors and Perceptions of Primary Food Handlers at Home in South Korea across Time

Foods

and Min Suk Rhee¹  Hye Won Kim¹  Sun Ae Kim²  Tae Jin Cho³ 

[1] Department of Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Korea University, 145, Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02841, Korea;Department of Food Science and Engineering, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Korea;Department of Food and Biotechnology, College of Science and Technology, Korea University, 2511, Sejong-ro, Sejong 30019, Korea;

关键词: consumer survey;    food safety;    food hygiene;    food handling;    consumer behavior;    risk perception;   

DOI  :  10.3390/foods9101457

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Food-handling behaviors and risk perceptions among primary food handlers were investigated by consumer surveys from different subjects in 2010 (N = 609; 1st survey will be called here “Year 2010”) and 2019 (N = 605; 2nd survey will be called here “Year 2019”). Year 2010 was characterized by consumers’ risk perception-behavior gap (i.e., consumers knew safe methods for food-handling, but responses regarding the behaviors did not support their confidence in food safety): they 1) did not wash/trim foods before storage, 2) thawed frozen foods at room temperature, and 3) exposed leftovers to danger zone temperatures. These trends were not improved and the gaps in Year 2010 remained in Year 2019. Year 2010 was also characterized by other common high-risk behaviors improved during 8 years for the following aspects: 1) 70.0% of consumers divided a large portion of food into smaller pieces for storage, but few consumers (12.5%) labeled divided foods with relevant information, and 2) they excessively reused kitchen utensils. Whereas in Year 2019, more consumers (25.7%) labeled food and usage periods for kitchen utensils were shortened. Consumers usually conformed to food safety rules in both Year 2010 and 2019: 1) separate storage of foods, 2) storage of foods in the proper places/periods, 3) washing fruits/vegetables before eating, 4) washing hands after handling potentially hazardous foods, and 5) cooking foods and reheating leftovers to eat. Our findings provided resources for understanding consumers’ high-risk behaviors/perceptions at home, highlighting the importance of behavioral control.

【 授权许可】

Unknown