What Is Safe and How Much Does It Matter? Food Vendors' and Consumers' Views on Food Safety in Urban Nigeria

Divergent beliefs about food safety and affordability in Nigeria

Access to safe, affordable diets is paramount for improved nutritional outcomes. Yet, how do stakeholders perceive the binding constraints and requisite policy actions to increase food safety and affordability? Focusing on Nigeria, this paper uses best-worst scaling techniques applied to a survey of 200 government and agrifood system stakeholders to examine their policy beliefs on safety and affordability vis-à-vis the vegetable and fish value chains. We find that divergence among stakeholders is greater for food safety than affordability. While antibiotics overuse and toxin exposure, lack of knowledge, and weak legislation were identified by different stakeholders as the binding constraints for food safety, high costs of inputs and infrastructure, as well as security threats, were seen as common challenges for affordability across most, though not all, stakeholders for both value chains. Overall, the paper highlights the importance of beliefs in the agrifood system policymaking process and emphasizes the need to explore not only the existence but also the source of divergent beliefs among policy actors in greater depth.

Food choice drivers at varying income levels in an emerging economy

The purpose of this work was to explore and compare food choice drivers of low (LI), middle (MI) and high (HI) income urban people in an emerging economy (South Africa). Here, 13 focus group (FG) discussions [six LI, n = 36, 67% women; four MI, n = 22, 100% women and three HI, n = 17, 76% women; total n = 75) were transcribed, coded inductively and deductively and 17 food choice categories emerged. Eight of these, i.e., aspects related to: plant vs animal protein, food waste, food preparation, availability of resources, food exploration, social aspects and food spoilage, are not typically (e.g., sensory appeal, mood, health, convenience etc.) measured with established food choice questionnaires. Economic factors and Availability of food and resources were mentioned the most by LI participants compared to MI and HI. Whereas, Health; Familiarity and Food exploration were mostly mentioned by MI and HI participants. This study yielded a mixture of individual and environment based motives which add to our understanding of the "why" aspects underlying food choice in an urban and emerging economy. The fact that these aspects are compared by income group provides interesting information on the similarities and differences of how the food choice process unfolds across varying income groups. The insights from this study are useful for the development of an updated, quantitative food choice questionnaire for application in this and other emerging economies.

Perception and attitudes of street food vendors toward the healthiness of meals prepared and sold in Dodoma

Consumption of street meals among urban dwellers has become inevitable, especially in low- and middle-income countries. It has been linked to higher incidence of dietary-related diseases. Vendors' perceptions and attitudes toward the healthiness of meals can influence nutritional quality of the offered meals. Therefore, the study aimed to assess perceptions and attitudes of vendors toward healthy and unhealthy meals as well as the healthiness of meals they prepare and sell. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 384 street food vendors. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using semistructured questionnaire. Pearson Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were used in comparing and testing for the association of perceptions and attitudes to vendors' characteristics. Street food vendors that took part in this study demonstrated good perceptions based on what they perceived to be healthy meals (58.33%) and positive attitudes (95.57%) toward preparation and provision of healthy meals. Perceptions were associated with sex (p = .007), education level (p = .002), and investment cost (p = .000). Results from logistic regression showed that better perceptions of healthy meals were associated with being female (OR = 2.46, p-value < .031), having higher education (OR = 11.88, p-value < .042), and vending experience of 1-5 years and more than 5 years (OR = 3.17, 2.95, p-value < .019, .039, respectively) while having moderate investment cost showed significant lower chances of having better perceptions (OR = 0.33, p-value < .001). Attitudes were associated with sex (p = .002), age (p = .002), marital status (p = .013), education (p = .009), and vending experience (p = .008). Female vendors, having 25 years of age and above, living with partners, with tertiary education, and having vending experience of more than 1 year had shown to have more positive attitudes toward healthy meals. Generally, street food vendors had good perceptions and attitudes toward healthy meals. This implies possible room for change and adoption of better ways of preparing meals. These findings could be used as a stepping stone in improving nutritional and healthy quality of street meals. Increased efforts are needed on the inclusion of nutritional aspects of healthy meals as they were merely considered by vendors. Future interventions on these vendors should focus more on male vendors, vendors with little vending experience, and little education as they had shown to have relatively poorer attitudes and perceptions compared to other groups.

How Perspectives on Food Safety of Vendors and Consumers Translate into Food-Choice Behaviors in 6 African and Asian Countries

Background

Consumption of unsafe foods increases morbidity and mortality and is currently an issue, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Policy actions to ensure food safety are dominated by mitigation of biological and chemical hazards through supply-side risk management, lessening the degree to which consumer perspectives of food safety are considered.

Objectives

This study aimed to provide an in-depth understanding, from vendor and consumer perspectives, of how food-safety concerns of consumers translate into their subsequent food-choice behaviors in 6 diverse low- and middle-income countries.

Methods

Six Drivers of Food Choice projects (2016-2022) provided transcripts from 17 focus group discussions and 343 interviews conducted in Ghana, Guinea, India, Kenya, Tanzania, and Vietnam. Qualitative thematic analysis was used to identify emerging themes important to food safety.

Results

The analysis suggests that consumers constructed meaning about food safety through personal lived experience and social influences. Community and family members contributed knowledge about food safety. Concerns about food safety were influenced by reputations of and relationships with food vendors. Consumers' mistrust of food vendors was amplified by purposeful adulteration or unsafe selling practices and new methods used to produce food. Moreover, consumers were reassured of food safety by positive relationships with vendors; meals cooked at home; implementation of policies and following regulations; vendor adherence to environmental sanitation and food-hygiene practices; cleanliness of vendors' appearance; and vendors' or producers' agency to use risk mitigation strategies in production, processing, and distribution of food.

Conclusions

Consumers integrated their meanings, knowledge, and concerns about food safety to achieve assurance about the safety of their foods when making food-choice decisions. The success of food-safety policies hinges on consideration of consumers' food-safety concerns in their design and implementation, alongside actions to reduce risk in food supply.

Foodborne zoonoses control in low- and middle-income countries: Identifying aspects of interventions relevant to traditional markets which act as hurdles when mitigating disease transmission

Globally, foodborne zoonoses are responsible for approximately one third of all foodborne disease burden and this picture is likely to worsen if consumption of animal source foods continues to rise with insufficient attention to risk mitigation. Traditional markets represent highly important nodes that can be targeted for risk mitigation; in this series of case studies, we discuss food safety interventions relevant to this nexus. We illustrate that to improve food safety within traditional markets it is essential to consider some of the motivations and incentives of the stakeholders involved and the cultural, social, and economic context in which interventions are undertaken, highlighting barriers, enablers future interventions should aim to avoid, embrace. We also conclude that a holistic approach to foodborne zoonoses control will require the institutionalization of One Health across food systems of which traditional markets are part.

Norwegian Consumers’ Skepticism towards Smoke-Flavoring of Salmon—Is It for Real?

The aim of the present study was to explore Norwegian consumers’ attitudes toward smoke-flavoring of cold smoked salmon (CSS), by conducting a digital survey and focus group discussions. Some of the smoke-flavoring techniques, like atomized purified condensed smoke, is considered healthier than conventional smoking. Manufacturers of CSS are, however, hesitant to use all kinds of smoke-flavoring due to expected consumer skepticism. In the digital survey, the expected skepticism was confirmed (n = 487). Only 15% of the respondents were positively oriented toward smoke-flavoring of CSS. The selection criterion for the focus group discussion was based on the results from the survey and resulted in three attitude-oriented focus groups (negative, neutral, and positive). The negative focus group considered smoke-flavored CSS to be unnatural and out of the question to buy or eat. Unlike the negative focus group, the neutral group was curious to learn more and open to potential smoke-flavor benefits. However, credible information or science was crucial to influence CSS choice. Future studies may investigate whether the existent of this large group of curious neutral consumers (47% of the respondents) influence manufacturers (of CSS) skepticism or how various types of product information could steer consumer acceptance of smoke-flavoring of CSS.

Food safety-related perspectives and practices of consumers and vendors in Ethiopia: A scoping review

Despite being one of the first African countries to prioritize food safety, foodborne diseases are of acute concern in Ethiopia. This review aims to understand food safety-related perspectives and practices among consumers and food vendors in Ethiopia to identify motivations, beliefs, and values that shape and/or drive their practices. A well-defined search and review identified 116 relevant articles. These spanned eight of the ten regional states and two chartered cities, with most work focusing on urban areas and on a sample within one state or chartered city. Ninety-four studies focused on vendors or food handlers; fifteen articles examined both consumers and vendors, but only four assessed interactions between the groups. Meat, dairy products, and ready-to-eat (street) foods were the most studied food groups. Food service establishments were the most examined outlets. Forty-six studies examined generic food safety issues or concerns. Overall, 102 studies assessed food safety practices; 53 studies examined knowledge, and 19 studies assessed attitudes. A gap in vendors' observed practices versus knowledge and attitudes was noted. Consumer deductions of food safety were based on vendor practices. Both groups used physical attributes based on senses to assess quality and safety of animal-source foods, had their own 'coping' strategies to address food safety-related concerns, and had similar views on consumer choice motives. Analysis of food and the food handling environment revealed a high level of contamination. An additional study, included after the original search, identified training to be effective in influencing knowledge, attitudes, and practices - though results for attitudes and practices were not sustained in the long term. Future research should address consumers and consumer-vendor interactions and include the full triad of knowledge-attitudes-practices. It is also recommended to focus on nutrient-rich foods as well as on traditional markets and local eateries. Improving the quality of research will be critical to improve food safety in Ethiopia.