Survey to study food fear factor

CONSUMER ATTITUDES to food risks will come under scrutiny in a new study launched this week. The survey of food behaviour in the Irish population by University College Dublin (UCD) will ask the public about their lifestyles and attitudes towards food scares, in a bid to inform food policy and communication strategies.

"We are trying to understand how people think about a variety of food issues and how people behave," said lead researcher Dr Aileen McGloin from UCD's school of public health and population science.

In the first study of its kind in Ireland, the UCD researchers are inviting the public to complete short, monthly online surveys about their lifestyles, habits and attitudes towards food.

The aim is to bridge the gulf between how scientists and consumers interpret food-related risks, explained Ms McGloin.

"Scientists look at a risk, whether it's a food contaminant or a way of eating, like overeating, and they say if person X does Y their risk is going to be Z and it's all very straightforward," she said. "But for an individual, whether it's avoiding a food if there's a food scare or choosing a low-fat food or choosing to exercise, that has to fit into the context of their life."

Several factors can influence our choices about food, explained Ms McGloin, including our personalities, socio-economic background and the nature of the particular risk.

"For obesity, the nature of the risk is to become overweight over a long period of time. You might not even perceive it happening, it's very far off, there are other pressing issues.

"Compare that to something like a genetically modified food where it's unfamiliar and [ consumers] don't really understand it and can't see the benefit."

The researchers also want to find out what the public thinks about high-profile food scares such as salmonella in eggs, BSE in beef, Sudan Red dye, avian flu and the discovery of E. coli in bagged salads.

In addition, the study, which is funded by the Department of Agriculture, will explore people's seemingly contradictory behaviours around food and related risks, said Ms McGloin.

"It might be taking your cigarette in the morning with your cholesterol-lowering drink," she said. "Or the person at the barbecue who is fastidious about separating raw and cooked meat and is munching through bowls of crisps at the same time."

The researchers are inviting adults between 18 and 85 to go online and answer questions about their habits, memories of specific food scares, and what worries them in the supermarket, said Ms McGloin. All data will be secure, and, as a reward, participants will be entered into prize draws.

Ultimately, the study will inform public health strategies, she added. "At the moment, we don't know about how people think about food, or the best way to communicate with people about it," she said. "So this [ study] will influence food policy and also food communication strategies."

To participate, log on to www.foodrisk.ie, e-mail foodsurveyhelp @ucd.ie or lo-call 1890-252759.