RESULTS OF THE STUDY ON SOCIAL REPRESENTATIONS OF FOOD RISK MANAGEMENT To go through the presentation please click on the mouse

Results of the study on social representations of food risk management Who are we? Introducing the actors! I represent CONSUMERS I represent EXPERTS, including Food Risk Managers, Food Risk Assessors and Food Safety scientists I represent Food Risk Assessors I represent Food Safety scientists I represent Food Risk Managers

Results of the study on social representations of food risk management We CONSUMERS are more heterogeneous regarding our perceptions of what constitute good food risk management practices On the contrary, we EXPERTS are more homogeneous regarding our perceptions of what constitute good food risk management practices. As we have similar ideas and there is no significant difference between the experts groups (Food Risk Assessors, Food Risk Managers and Food Safety scientist) from now on we will be all together in the same group, just EXPERTS! = = = Consumers and experts have different perceptions of what constitutes good food risk management practices. However, different types of experts generally have similar perceptions. Also, consumers coming from different EU Member States have different perceptions. This cross-cultural variation has not been observed between experts.

Results of the study on social representations of food risk management General attitudes towards food risk management We have to deal with food safety issues in our every day life. In a sense, we feel indifferent about how food hazards are managed precisely, as long as we have access to safe food. In general, we think that food safety is properly managed We also think that that CONSUMERS don’t have enough knowledge about food safety issues & that they don’t accept risks even when there are new chances for better quality On the other hand, we also consider ourselves CONSUMERS

Results of the study on social representations of food risk management Perceptions of the level of control of food (1) When do you perceive food hazards to be well managed? When pro-active measures are taken and there is a focus on prevention/inspection When consumers are getting educated and informed When there are systems of control in place and we are informed about them When there are proper priority settings

Results of the study on social representations of food risk management Perceptions of the level of control of food (2) When do you perceive food hazards to be well managed? When all stages of the food chain are inspected and efforts are made in tracking down food hazards When there is no media attention or when attention is paid to the problem and action is taken to solve the problem When products are labelled When there is a rapid response to hazards with regulations and implementation of measures When there is no media attention When there is effort to increase the scientific knowledge and progress in science

Results of the study on social representations of food risk management Perceptions on how food hazards should be managed We believe that better systems of control are an important element of food risk management We think that education of the consumers and providing them with suitable information is something that should be done in food risk management More research on food risk assessment is needed to enhance food risk management, such as better data sampling or more scientific studies We need more information and education We apply personal responsibility in preventing hazards, for example, washing fruit and vegetables and checking expiry dates Food risk management would improve if more attention is paid to prevention, rather than focusing on crisis management that deals with a problem when it occurs

Results of the study on social representations of food risk management Trustworthiness of food safety managers according to the CONSUMERS Yes, and we are more likely to trust food safety managers if we perceive them to have knowledge and expertise We are more likely to trust food safety managers with the same interests as ours, this is what we call the “value of similarity” Finally, we think that power and ability to act are needed too. Without these, nobody can take immediate action when it’s required. We are suspicious whether our health is the main concern of food risks managers! Our primary reason for distrust is when economic interests seem to prevail over our health.

Results of the study on social representations of food risk management The end Thank you for your attention!