# Presentation: 517100

## Cognitive Antecedents of “Good” Food Safety Practices

- Alan S. Levy  Ph.D.
- Senior Scientist
- FDA/CFSAN
- Washington, DC 20202

**Notes:**
It is good to know what you are measuring when you ask people questions about their behavior.  Sometimes it is not so obvious.
Sometimes what is obvious is mistaken.  Today, I want to abandon preconception about what is being measured in favor or looking at empirical evidence about the similarities and differences between measures that on their face seem more or less related to each other, but may or may not be.  The data I want to use is from the same study that  Sara has just described, using the 1998 data only.  I want to apply the same predictive model to a set of supposedly related dependent variables and identify which variables in the model are significantly related, and in which direction, to the various outcome measures.  In this way we can establish a family resemblance between variables that act similarly in terms of their dependencies with the model variables.  The technique follows the Campbell and Stanley's concept of divergent and convergent validityabout establishing the ent and divergent validity of      

## Overview of Talk 	

**H: Improvements in reported food safety practices must be due to changes in consumer knowledge, attitudes, or experience. But which ones? **
**It might help design effective food safety education, if we could identify the cognitive antecedents of safe behavior. **

## Overview of Analysis 	

**1998 FDA/USDA Food Safety Survey data.**
**2SLS regression with instrumental variables**
**Food safety practices = B’s(cognitive + demographic variables) with personal food preferences (I.e., prepare raw fish) as instrument. **

## Summary measures of individual’s food safety practices:

**Handling--based on 3 foods, 7 Qs**
**Consumption--based on 14 foods**
**Cooling--based on 2 foods, 4 Qs**

## Large set of cognitive measures

**Prior experience variables**
**Knowledge variables**
**Risk perceptions**
**Information search measures**

## Overview of Results 	

**Controlled for demographics**
**Controlled for self-selection bias**
**Controlled for other cognitive variables**
**Direct effects of cognitive variables that remain identify likely antecedents of ‘good’ food safety behavior.**

## Results: Risk Perceptions:            Personal Behavior Level

## Personal behavior risk perceptions: How likely are you to get sick?

- If you forgot to wash your hands before you begin cooking.
- If vegetables you eat raw happen to touch raw meat or chicken.
- If you eat meat or chicken that is not thoroughly cooked.
- If you leave cooked food out of the refrigerator for more than 2 hours.

## Results: Risk Perceptions:            Societal Level

## Societal level risk perceptions: How common is it for people in the U.S. to get sick?

- Because of contamination of food by germs.
- Because of the way food is handled in their homes.
- Because of the way food is handled in restaurants.
- Do you think there has been more or less sickness from food over the past 5 years.

## Results: Prior experience variables

## Results: Food safety knowledge var.

## Results: Information search var.

## Distribution of Personal Risk Perception in the Population

**Characteristics associated with increased personal behavior risk perception**
**Women**
**Middle age, (26-60)**
**Less education**
**No food preparation experience**
**Recent illness experience**
**More likely to look for food safety information**
**Less knowledge about how to kill food pathogens**

## Conclusions: 

- Consumers practice safe food behavior when they think about it.
- They think about it when they perceive a risk.
- They may not perceive a risk if they are confident they are controlling their risks.
- Consumers may have mistaken ideas about which practices are effective at reducing risks.

## Implications

- Effective education challenges undue complacency.
- Practice-specific information is likely to work better than general information.
- Ideal message: Do you do it [specific practice] this way [practice specific information]?

## Thinking Globally -- Working Locally

**Thinking Globally -- Working Locally**

**A Conference on Food Safety Education**