Development of strategies for effective communication of food risks and benefits across Europe: Design and conceptual framework of the FoodRisC project

BMC Public Health

Study Protocol

Jon Fletcher¹  Margôt Kuttschreuter²  Wim Verbeke³  Julie Barnett⁴  Luisa Lima⁵  Josephine Wills⁶  Jean Kennedy⁶  Monique Raats⁷  Richard Shepherd⁷  Patrick Wall⁸  Aine McConnon⁸ 

[1] Brook Lyndhurst, Lion House, 26-28 Paddenswick Road, W6 0UB, London, UK;Center for Risk & Safety Perception (CRiSP) Psychology & Communication of Health & Risk, Citadel H440, University of Twente, P.O. box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, The Netherlands;Department of Agricultural Economics, Ghent University, Coupure links 653, B-9000, Gent, Belgium;Department of Information Systems and Computing, Brunel University, Kingston Lane, UB8 3PH, Uxbridge, UK;Dept of Social and Organizational Psychology, Instituto Superior de Ciências do Trabalho e da Empresa, Av. das Forças Armadas, 1649-026, Lisboa, Portugal;European Food Information Council (EUFIC), Rue Guimard 19, 1040, Brussels, Belgium;Food, Consumer Behaviour and Health Research Centre, Department of Psychology, University of Surrey, GU2 7XH, Guildford, Surrey, UK;School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Population Science, University College Dublin, Woodview House, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland;

关键词: Social Medium;    Risk Perception;    Risk Communication;    European Food Safety Authority;    Work Package;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-11-308

 received in 2011-04-13, accepted in 2011-05-13,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundEuropean consumers are faced with a myriad of food related risk and benefit information and it is regularly left up to the consumer to interpret these, often conflicting, pieces of information as a coherent message. This conflict is especially apparent in times of food crises and can have major public health implications. Scientific results and risk assessments cannot always be easily communicated into simple guidelines and advice that non-scientists like the public or the media can easily understand especially when there is conflicting, uncertain or complex information about a particular food or aspects thereof. The need for improved strategies and tools for communication about food risks and benefits is therefore paramount. The FoodRisC project ("Food Risk Communication - Perceptions and communication of food risks/benefits across Europe: development of effective communication strategies") aims to address this issue. The FoodRisC project will examine consumer perceptions and investigate how people acquire and use information in food domains in order to develop targeted strategies for food communication across Europe.Methods/DesignThis project consists of 6 research work packages which, using qualitative and quantitative methodologies, are focused on development of a framework for investigating food risk/benefit issues across Europe, exploration of the role of new and traditional media in food communication and testing of the framework in order to develop evidence based communication strategies and tools. The main outcome of the FoodRisC project will be a toolkit to enable coherent communication of food risk/benefit messages in Europe. The toolkit will integrate theoretical models and new measurement paradigms as well as building on social marketing approaches around consumer segmentation. Use of the toolkit and guides will assist policy makers, food authorities and other end users in developing common approaches to communicating coherent messages to consumers in Europe.DiscussionThe FoodRisC project offers a unique approach to the investigation of food risk/benefit communication. The effective spread of food risk/benefit information will assist initiatives aimed at reducing the burden of food-related illness and disease, reducing the economic impact of food crises and ensuring that confidence in safe and nutritious food is fostered and maintained in Europe.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Barnett et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011