FDA STUDY TO EXAMINE RISK PERCEPTIONS OF FRESH PRODUCE AFTER A RECALL

Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it plans to conduct a study that will evaluate risk perceptions of produce growers, food retailers, and consumers after a food recall resulting from a foodborne illness outbreak. The purpose of this research is to help FDA better understand whether the magnitude and duration of the decline in commodity consumption following food recalls can be partly explained by grower and retailer speculations and projections about consumers’ attitudes toward food recalls resulting from foodborne illness outbreaks.

The study will be conducted under a cooperative agreement between the Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and the Center for Risk Communication Research (CRCR) at the University of Maryland. Using an online questionnaire, the CRCR will use a convenience sample of 900 participants (180 growers, 180 retailers, 540 consumers) drawn from industry networks (for the growers and retailers), and a web-based panel of U.S. households (for the consumers).