Journal of Consumer Protection and Food Safety最新文献

Commercially produced and home-made raw meat-based pet diets are becoming increasingly popular and have been recognised as an emerging public health risk by the European Food Safety Authority. The aim of this study was to investigate risk perceptions and self-reported pet food preparation practices in the home setting among pet owners who feed raw meat-based diet to pets. An online questionnaire was distributed to pet owners through social media groups. Ultimately, 750 respondents were included in the detailed analysis, divided into two subgroups, a “raw group” consisted of pet owners who provided raw meat-based diets for pets (n = 382), while the “conventional group” consisted of pet owners who did not (n = 368). There was no significant difference between the two groups in overall risk perception. Only one third of respondents in both groups were aware of the potentially fatal consequences of food poisoning. Self-reported frequency of hand washing, and surface cleaning, were significantly higher (p = 0.000) in the raw group than the conventional group. Food safety malpractices were noted in the raw feeding group, with 47% reporting to rinsing raw peat meat before preparing it, and 42% thawing frozen raw peat meat at room temperature on the kitchen counter. The results provide information on the prevalence of feeding raw meat to pets among Slovenian pet owners and provides the basis for developing tailored food safety education campaigns to improve risk awareness and provide food safety recommendations for pet owners providing raw meat-based diets for pets in Slovenia.

This paper presents the development and validation of the Social Acceptance Scale (SAS), an instrument designed to measure social acceptance, particularly in transformative sectors like agricultural livestock farming. Recognizing the need for a nuanced acceptance scale, various facets of acceptance across a three-level continuum were delineated, spanning from opposition to commitment, encompassing eight distinct items. The SAS's creation and validation process included the conceptual and empirical testing of four validity types: content validity, face validity, construct validity, and criterion validity. Content and face validity involved construct definition, item generation, iterative review, and pilot testing to ensure theoretical soundness. Empirical testing encompassed construct validity through statistical validation and assessments of factorial and convergent validity. Furthermore, criterion validity was explored by examining associations with related constructs, enhancing the SAS's external applicability. In conclusion, this paper introduces the SAS as a tool to measure social acceptance within transformative sectors. It underscores the necessity for a comprehensive acceptance scale, offering a detailed account of its development and validation. The discussion section acknowledges limitations and outlines potential directions for future research in this domain.

During a 2-year longitudinal study, which was nearly representative of the German population, considerable fluctuations were observed in the stated willingness to pay more for food produced with higher animal welfare and environmental protection standards. After the start of the Ukraine war in February 2022 and the roughly simultaneous rise in inflation, the expressed willingness to pay more for animal welfare and drinking water protection dropped significantly for a while, but largely recovered by spring 2023. This was accompanied by a significant temporary decline of the influence of the farming type on the taste of milk and dairy products. The results shed some light on the mechanisms responsible for the attitude-behaviour gap between stated and actual willingness to pay more food produced with higher animal welfare and environmental protection standards.

Primary aromatic amines (PAAs) may be found in food contact materials and can potentially migrate from packaging material into the packed foodstuffs. Certain members of this substance class are of particular concern due to their toxicological properties. Legislators and authorities require a risk assessment regarding the transfer of PAAs into food. The evaluation of PAAs’ migration into food relies on migration or extraction tests using aqueous and acidic food simulants or solvents. However, PAAs exhibit stability issues in acidic media, which could lead to an underestimation of migration. Therefore, a systematic stability study was conducted for 28 PAAs in 3% acetic acid and water at different storage conditions. Standard solutions of 2 and 10 ng/ml of the amines in these media were prepared and stored under the following conditions: 2 h at 40 °C, 70 °C, and 100 °C, and 10 days at − 20 °C, 4 °C, 20 °C, 40° C, and 60 °C. The test solutions were analyzed using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry, and recovery was calculated against freshly prepared standard solutions. It was found that several PAAs undergo a loss of recovery under the investigated conditions; 7 of the substances were identified to be the most unstable: 3,3ʹ-dimethoxybenzidine, 3,3ʹ-dimethylbenzidine, 6-methoxy-m-toluidine, 4-methoxy-m-phenylendiamine, 2,6-toluenediamine, benzidine and 2,4-toluenediamine. It was concluded that both time and storage temperature play a pivotal role in the stability of PAAs. The experiments also demonstrated that PAAs exhibit greater stability in water than in 3% acetic acid.

Spelt products are popular with consumers achieving higher market prizes, making them susceptible to food adulteration with less valuable cereals. To facilitate product control, a recently developed duplex droplet digital PCR method enables the detection and quantification of common wheat (Triticum aestivum) contaminations in food products made from spelt (Triticum spelta). The duplex droplet digital PCR assay targets the γ-gliadin gene and the Q-locus of both subspecies. In this study, the method was validated in an interlaboratory ring trial involving 11 participating laboratories. Test materials containing defined proportions of spelt and common wheat were prepared and tested. The ring trial procedure included DNA extraction of the test samples and determination of subspecies proportions using droplet digital PCR. Results from the ring trial confirmed the method's capability for specific detection and quantification of common wheat in spelt, with acceptable relative measurement uncertainties, and without requiring reference material for calibration. To our knowledge, this is the first interlaboratory validation of a digital PCR method for species differentiation in food.

The transformation towards sustainable livestock farming requires fundamental sociopolitical changes embraced by all stakeholders. Since the food retail plays a pivotal role in sustainability transformation, incorporating its perspective is essential. This qualitative study presents the results of a survey conducted with representatives of the food retail sector, shedding light on the various faced challenges that influence its behavior and management. These challenges primarily encompass new consumer consumption patterns, digitalization, and political and legal developments. Methodologically, the findings underscore that industry-specific interviews provide an effective tool to capture the retail perspective in a nuanced manner and to give voice to this central stakeholder group.

As significant economic stakeholders, consumers also influence the economic development of agricultural livestock farming. Through their purchasing behavior, they collectively play a crucial role in financing potential transformation costs. One aspect influencing consumer behavior is their immediate and concrete decision context at the point of sale, which includes pricing and product availability. Many studies tend to neglect this specific context. This neglect may contribute to the often discussed discrepancy between expressed attitude and observable buying behavior. This reinforces the impression that consumer often demand higher standards for agricultural livestock farming, but do not consistently purchase corresponding products. To bridge this gap between attitude and behavior, it appears sensible to collaborate with all relevant stakeholders to develop and test communication and information strategies at the point of sale. This opportunity is provided by living labs (i.e. “RealLabor”). Against this background, this paper outlines the “RealLabor” as a method for transformation research and the systematic development and prototypical testing of innovative approaches in the market for sustainable consumption.