Food and Nutrition Hazards Related to Public Health, Food Technology and Ecology: Perceptions of Experts and Non-experts in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Aim: This study investigated perceptions of risk to self, risk to society, risk denial, control, responsibility, trust and knowledge of food and nutrition-related hazards among expert and non-expert groups with an aim of better understanding barriers to effective communication between experts and the public. Design: Participants completed a questionnaire housed on an online platform. Methodology: Experts were recruited from nutritionists in the food industry in the UK. Non-experts were recruited from a voluntary public panel with access to the online platform. Questions documented demographic variables and scores for the risk that food and nutrition-related hazards pose to self and society. Participants scored perceptions of expert and personal control of hazards, personal responsibility for averting the hazards, trust in experts for managing the hazards and personal knowledge of the hazards. The hazards were categorised for analysis into public nutrition, food technology and food ecology to reflect degrees of citizen participation in risk management. Results: Experts scored perception of risk to self and risk to society from food technology hazards significantly lower than non-experts. Both groups had greatest risk denial, scores of personal control, personal responsibility and personal knowledge, and lowest scores for expert control, for public nutrition hazards. Trust in experts was higher among experts than it was among non-experts. Gender, personal responsibility and knowledge, but not trust in experts, were significant predictors of risk perception. Conclusions: There were similarities in perception of risk of public nutrition and food ecology hazards between experts and non-experts, but differences in the perception of risk and trust in experts relating to food technology. Both groups perceived higher personal control of and personal responsibility for, and lower expert control for, public nutrition hazards.