Foodborne Illness: Perceptions, Experience, and Preventive Behaviors in the United States

Authors: Fein, Sara B.1; Lin, C.-T. Jordan2; Levy, Alan S.1

Source: Journal of Food Protection®, Volume 58, Number 12, December 1995 , pp. 1405-1411(7)

Publisher: International Association for Food Protection

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Abstract:

Data from national telephone surveys conducted in 1988 and 1993 were used to describe consumer perceptions of foodborne illness. The 1993 data were also used to assess the relationship between the perception that a foodborne illness had recently been experienced and awareness, concern, knowledge, and behavior related to food safety. Respondents described foodborne disease primarily as a minor illness without fever that occurs within a day of eating a contaminated food prepared in a restaurant. However, several common pathogens have a latency period longer than a day, and experts on foodborne disease estimate that most cases of foodborne illness originate from foods prepared at home. In both surveys, people 18 to 39 years of age were more likely than those in other age groups to believe they had experienced a foodborne illness. In 1993, people with at least some college education were more likely to believe they had experienced foodborne illness than were people with less education. People who believed they had experienced foodborne illness had greater awareness of foodborne microbes and concern about food safety issues, were more likely to eat raw protein foods from animals, and were less likely to practice safe food handling than were those who did not perceive that they had experienced such an illness.

Keywords: CONSUMER FOOD HANDLING; CONSUMER PERCEPTIONS; FOODBORNE DISEASE

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Division of Market Studies, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Washington, D.C. 20204 USA 2: Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20005 USA

Publication date: 1995-12-01

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    First published in 1937, the Journal of Food Protection®, is a refereed monthly publication. Each issue contains scientific research and authoritative review articles reporting on a variety of topics in food science pertaining to food safety and quality. The Journal is internationally recognized as the leading publication in the field of food microbiology with a readership exceeding 11,000 scientists from 70 countries. The Journal of Food Protection® is indexed in Index Medicus, Current Contents, BIOSIS, PubMed, Medline, and many others.

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