PathogenCombat and the Public

Illness resulting from foodborne disease has become one of the most widespread public health problems in the contemporary world. Although we might suspect that much ‘food poisoning’ is picked up from poor hygiene in restaurants and take-aways, in many cases, it is actually linked to our own behaviour in our own kitchens.

The work that is being conducted with the public in PathogenCombat aims to find out what good and bad behaviour exists in the kitchens of four European countries – namely the UK, Denmark, Spain and Poland. There are four main areas of importance to good hygiene in the kitchen - cleaning, cooking, chilling and cross-contamination. So, through focus groups and a questionnaire survey, we are asking people questions such as how do they store and cook meat, and how do they clean kitchen utensils when they are preparing raw meat. Ultimately, PathogenCombat aims to improve food safety practices throughout the foodchain, and the work with the public is no exception. Thus, we are also interested in the preferences that people have for different kinds of food safety messages, the extent to which they would rather receive food safety messages from different organisations, and the way in which they would prefer to receive the messages – i.e. through the TV, at the supermarket, on the internet and so on. We are also asking them about their newspaper readership so that we can better understand where different people currently get information, news and messages. By the end of PathogenCombat, we hope to have a clear understanding of what information members of the public currently lack, what reminders might be needed in terms of good practice in the kitchen, and how we can most effectively get information and messages to different groups of European consumers. In addition, findings from the scientific research in PathogenCombat will provide new information to inform good hygiene behaviour, and this part of the project will provide a way of getting those new messages to the European public in a clear, understandable and accessible format.

Findings from consumer surveys

Questionnaires have been carried out in four EU countries – namely, UK, Denmark, Spain and Poland. The results from the surveys provide detailed understanding of clusters of respondents, their knowledge relating to food safety and micro-organisms, their food safety behaviour in terms of food preparation, cooking and storage, their preferences for food safety information sources, their purchasing habits relating to functional foods, and a range of other food safety issues. In addition, the survey addresses the issue of trust, through questions about which bodies people most prefer to receive food safety information from, and questions relating to retailer type and size, and how respondents think this may be relevant to the safety of food.

Respondents were asked whether they had heard of 11 micro-organisms and whether they could identify a food source with which each is likely to be associated. The micro-organisms that the study considered were:

• Salmonella
• Listeria monocytogenes
• Ecoli 0157
• Campylobacter
• Clostrodium botulinum
• Staphylococcus aureas
• Clostridium perfringens
• Food-borne viruses
• Yersinia enterocolitica
• Shigella
• Bacillus cereus

The questionnaire included a number of questions about food safety-related behaviour. These were as follows:

• Thinking about the last time you went shopping for raw meat, how much time lapsed between placing the food in your shopping basket and storing it in your home?
• At what temperature do you think your refrigerator should be kept?
• When you refrigerate your raw meat, where do you usually store it?
• When you cut raw meat and need to use the knife again, do you... Re-use the knife as is; Rinse the knife under cold water; Wipe the knife with a damp cloth; Wash the knife with detergent and hot water; Wash the knife with detergent, hot water and wipe it over with mild bleach
• When you cut raw meat and need to use the cutting board again, do you… Re-use the cutting board as is; Rinse it under cold water; Wipe it with a damp cloth; Wash it with detergent and hot water; Wash it with detergent, hot water and wipe it over with mild bleach
• On what occasions do you think it is important to wash your hands?
• How do you usually clean your hands when you are cooking or preparing food?
• How do you check that your a) red meat is fully cooked b) poultry is fully cooked?
• What percentage of food poisoning cases do you think are associated with home food preparation and/or storage?

UK

The key findings from the questionnaire survey are as follows:

• Respondents’ knowledge of food-borne micro-organisms is generally limited to three main pathogens, namely, salmonella, e-coli and listeria;
• There is a large variation in some areas of food safety behaviour, relating, for example, to how people test whether poultry is cooked;
• There is however a large degree of consensus relating to other areas of food safety behaviour such as that related to cross-contamination;
• When it comes to relying on other bodies to ensure that their food is safe, respondents demonstrate a reasonably high level of trust in food producers, processors, retailers and regulators
• Respondents indicate little difference in the degree of trust they place in different local and national authorities to provide them with food safety information
• Approximately two thirds of respondents buy one or two functional food items per week
• Four clusters of respondents were identified, representing a spectrum of knowledge of food safety issues

Denmark

The key findings from the questionnaire survey are as follows:

• Respondents’ knowledge of food-borne micro-organisms is generally limited to just one pathogen, namely, salmonella, with between 23% and 12% of respondents having knowledge of four others, campylobacter, listeria, clostridium botulinum and e-coli;
• There is a large variation in some areas of food safety behaviour, relating, for example, to how people test whether poultry is cooked;
• There is a large degree of consensus relating to other areas of food safety behaviour such as that related to cross-contamination;
• When it comes to relying on other bodies to ensure that their food is safe, respondents demonstrate a reasonably high level of trust in food producers, processors, retailers and regulators;
• Respondents indicate some variation in the degree of trust they place in different national authorities to provide them with food safety information, the most trusted being the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration and the Danish National Board of Health;
• Just less than half of respondents buy one or two functional food items per week;
• Four clusters of respondents were identified, representing differences in knowledge of food safety issues, and practice in relation to food safety behaviour.

Spain

The key findings from the questionnaire survey are as follows:

• Respondents’ knowledge of food-borne micro-organisms is generally limited to just one pathogen, namely, salmonella. The only other pathogen for which more than 10% of respondents were able to correctly identify a source, was clostridium botulinum;
• There is a large variation in some areas of food safety behaviour, relating, for example, to cooking poultry;
• There is a certain amount of consensus in other areas of food safety behaviour such as that related to cross-contamination issues during the preparation of meat;
• Respondents indicate a similar level of trust in both governmental and non-governmental bodies to provide them with food safety information;
• A greater proportion of respondents trust small, independent food shops to provide them with safe food, than the proportion who trust supermarkets to do so;
• Almost two thirds of respondents buy one or two functional food items per week;
• Four clusters of respondents were identified, representing differences in knowledge of pathogens and food safety issues, and practice in relation to food safety behaviour.

Poland

The key findings from the questionnaire survey are as follows:

• Respondents’ knowledge of food-borne micro-organisms is generally limited to just one pathogen, namely, salmonella. The only other pathogen for which more than 10% of respondents were able to correctly identify a source, was Ecoli 0157;
• There is a large variation in some areas of food safety behaviour, relating, for example, to the storage of raw meat;
• There is a certain amount of consensus in other areas of food safety behaviour such as that related to cross-contamination issues during the preparation of meat;
• Respondents indicate a greater preference for receiving food safety information from local government officials than from national government departments;
• A greater proportion of respondents trust small, independent food shops to provide them with safe food, than the proportion who trust supermarkets to do so;
• Eighty eight percent of respondents state that they buy one or more functional food items per week;
• Four clusters of respondents were identified, representing differences in knowledge of pathogens and food safety issues, and practice in relation to food safety behaviour.

Clusters of respondents

Although the surveys revealed four clusters of respondents in each country, these clusters were not identical, country by country. Overall, the four country surveys reveal that in terms of information needs there are likely to be five main different ‘types’ of people.

1. Those who need some advice relating to some aspects of food safety-related behaviour, and information about all pathogens in food and the sources with which they are associated.
2. Those who need some information about some pathogens in food and the sources with which they are associated, and some advice about some aspects of food safety-related behaviour.
3. Those who need some information about some pathogens in food and the sources with which they are associated, and advice about all aspects of food safety-related behaviour.
4. Those who need information about all pathogens in food and the sources with which they are associated.
5. Those who need some information about some pathogens in food and the sources with which they are associated.