catastrophic resultsof human error in these industries. Theseeffortswere
undertakenafter the occurrence of some serioussafetyincidents, and resulted
fromthe need to protectboththe publicand the employee.
Similarinsightsrelatingto equipmentoperation and proceduredesignhave,
to our knowledge, not been extended to the foodindustry, whether food
processing plants or to catering and hotel businesses.Arguably,the applicable
safetystandards in the foodindustry that are constructed without takinghuman
factors into account are unlikely to result in optimal levels of safety for
employees and consumers. Someof the approaches, proceduresand information
interventionsadoptedin the human factors literaturegenerally, and consumer
riskpsychologyliterature specifically,maybe usefullyapplied to improve
safetyin the foodproduction and cateringsectors.
6.7 Conclusions
Simplyapplyinglegislativereforms to small sectorsof the foodchainis unlikely
to havea majorimpacton publichealth unlessconsumerbehaviour is also
addressed. It is difficult, if not impossible,to legislate for consumer behaviourin
the home.The development of an effective and targetedcommunication strategy
is likely to be the onlyway to produce improvementin publichealthin the food
safetyarea.
Understanding the risk perceptionof consumers is an essentialfirst step in
predicting and, possibly,changingtheir behaviour with regard to hygiene-
relatedfoodsafety practices.
∑ Riskperceptionsresultin involuntary, potentiallycatastrophic and unnatural
risks(amongothers)beingperceivedas more a focusof consumerconcern
and anxietythansimilarlyassessedrisksthat are seenas voluntary,non-
catastrophic and natural. For this reason, foodhygiene maynot be a priority
for many consumers. For the same reason,technologicalprocessesdeveloped
to mitigatefoodsafety risksmaynot be acceptable to someconsumers.
∑ People tend to regard their own risks from microbiological foodborne
illnessesas lowerthanthatof the general population.Thisleadsto the
rejection of risk information sincethe targeted individual doesnot perceive it
as directed at him or her, but to the vulnerableother person.
Riskcommunicationrelieson understandingconsumerrisk attitudes(andhowto
changetheseattitudes)in orderto influencebehaviour.At present,this area merits
furtherempiricalinvestigation,but a theoreticalperspectiveexistswithinsocial
psychologythat mayprovidea usefulbasisfromwhichto developan effective
communication strategy. This is likely to entail targeted communication
approachesfocusingon the informationneedsof particularconsumers,and build
on currentknowledgeof motivationand cognitivecapacityin humaninformation
processing theory, to ensure that people change their attitudes and adopt
appropriatebehaviourswithrespectto improvingdomesticfoodhygienepractices.
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