Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

Principles and Practices of Effective Food Safety Risk Communication – Introducing the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Food Safety Risk Communication Framework

Hong Jin, Lateef Adewoye, Eleonora Dupouy, Jun Cheng Er, Frank Geraghty, William K. Hallman, Marion Healy, YiFan Jiang, Elizabeth de Leon-Lim, Clare Narrod, Amy Philpott

European Journal of Nutrition & Food Safety · pp. 11–27 · Published 1 Jul 2023

10.9734/ejnfs/2023/v15i81324

Abstract

This paper describes the principles and practices of effective food safety risk communication developed under the “Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Food Safety Risk Communication Framework and Associated Guidelines”. The framework recommends that effective food safety risk communication needs to be centered on the clear goal of protecting consumer health by ensuring transparency and timeliness, and communication on food safety matters should be conducted in a two-way process. It emphasizes the need to provide the public with credible information based on science and evidence and highlights that food safety is a shared responsibility among all stakeholders, including industry, government agencies, media organizations and consumers. It further highlights that food safety risk communication needs to be conducted in a consistent, systematic, inclusive, consultative, and preventative manner. The framework also indicates that effective food safety risk communication needs to pay attention to the backgrounds, experiences, and needs of concerned audiences. It stresses the importance of continuous improvement of the communication system to ensure food safety risk communication to be effective. Focusing on effective communications in response to food safety incidents, emergency or crisis situations, as well as everyday food safety communications, these principles and practical guidelines will help food safety regulators, food industry, food safety educators and other stakeholders improve their communications with target audiences.

Food safety risk communication crisis communication everyday communication social media principles and guidelines

References (21)

  1. 1 A New Dimension of Health Care: Systematic Review of the Uses, Benefits, and Limitations of Social Media for Health Communication [DOI]
  2. 2 Digital transformation: a review, synthesis and opportunities for future research [DOI]
  3. 3 Health-protective behaviour, social media usage and conspiracy belief during the COVID-19 public health emergency [DOI]
  4. 4 Journalism, 'fake news' & disinformation : handbook for journalism education and training
  5. 5 2008 Outbreak of Salmonella Saintpaul Infections Associated with Raw Produce [DOI]
  6. 6 The causes, impacts and countermeasures of COVID-19 “Infodemic”: A systematic review using narrative synthesis [DOI]
  7. 7 Seeking information about food-related risks: The contribution of social media [DOI]
  8. 8 Guidance on Communication of Uncertainty in Scientific Assessments [DOI]
  9. 9 Improving food safety through a one health approach: workshop summary.
  10. 10 First Things First: To Live, to Love, to Learn, to Leave a Legacy
  11. 11 Factors Impacting Food Safety Risk Perceptions [DOI]
  12. 12 Climate change: Unpacking the burden on food safety [DOI]
  13. 13 A Systematic Review of the Use of Social Media for Food Safety Risk Communication [DOI]
  14. 14 Moving from risk communication to food information communication and consumer engagement [DOI]
  15. 15 Consumer confidence in the safety of milk and infant milk formula in China [DOI]
  16. 16 Enhancing Food Safety: The Role of the Food and Drug Administration
  17. 17 Public Health Research Resulting from One of the World’s Largest Outbreaks Caused by Entero-Hemorrhagic Escherichia coli in Germany 2011: A Review [DOI]
  18. 18 International and national regulatory strategies to counter food fraud [DOI]
  19. 19 Health communication effects on food safety behaviors: A regression analysis of the determinants of food safety behaviors in health communication for life rural program districts [DOI]
  20. 20 Food safety considerations to achieve best health outcomes under limited food availability situations [DOI]
  21. 21 Inquiry blames missed warnings for scale of Britain's BSE crisis [DOI]

Cited by 6

Risk communication in food safety: addressing the gap between scientific risk assessments and public perception, and strategies to improve transparency and trust in food safety regulations

Helen Onyeaka · Food Safety and Risk · 2025

The Psychosocial Resonance of Food Safety Risk: A Space-Time Perspective

Lei Wang, Han Sun, Tingqiang Chen · Foods · 2025

Showing 2 of 6 known citations — external sources report more than can currently be individually listed.

Related research

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

53

Page views

0

PDF downloads

31

Outbound clicks

6

Citations

Views over time

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.