Consumer & Outreach Session Notes
Moderators: Joanne Coffin and Cindy Roberts
- When it comes to food safety, what do you worry about?
- Given those concerns, what kind of information do you need to make food safety decisions?
- Where do you currently get your food safety information and what do you do when you cannot find it?
- Given all the different ways that information can be delivered to you, how would you like to get food safety information?
- How can we best keep you involved in the development of the food safety risk assessment clearinghouse?
Among the very diverse combined groups of consumers (led by Joanne Coffin) and the outreach, media, communication group (led by Cindy Roberts) were concerns about cross-contamination of foods, especially vegetables and meats, as well as various types of meats and their juices. They were concerned about freshness and safety of seafood and other foods sold on roadside stands (are they inspected regularly?). The group was concerned about the scope of nutrition information that did not appear to address the nutritional needs of susceptible populations (elderly, children). The group was also concerned about availability of information to reduce home incidence of food-borne illnesses: can washing reduce bacteria/chemical contamination such as pesticides, and how long do you need to wash to reduce these contaminants? There were also labeling issues, with participants feeling that information on foods is misleading or confusing.
The group wanted clear information on how serious the food safety risk is. As guidelines or announcements are made, there needs to be information on what to be aware of and which groups may be more at risk. The group also felt there should be more positive information on how safe the food supply really is. Most of what they hear recently is negative. The labels should be clear and provide dating information that can be interpreted by the consumer (e.g. shelf date, sell date, consumption date). Labels also need to provide an indicator of which systems are being used to assure safety such as Total Quality Management, or Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point. There needs to be consistency in information between states or various regions of the country as to what risk estimates mean.
The group got their food safety information from food manufactures (label & toll free numbers), consumer groups, the Internet, library, word of mouth (handed down from mothers and friends). If they cannot find it, they contact FDA or USDA hotlines, Food NET Safety council, local trade associations, friends and relatives. Even though this was a more informed group than would be the average consumer, at least half of these participants did not know about the USDA and FDA food safety hotlines.
The groups would like to get their food safety information from grocery store flyers, Internet, public service ads, talk shows (Oprah), family/friends, and cookbooks.
Updates could be provided in newsletters, public meetings, and public libraries. It should be noted that as discussion continued, the group felt that most consumers would probably not use the clearinghouse directly, but would use information other groups accessed from it. What most members of the group wanted was just food safety information, not really risk assessment information at all.
