Consumer awareness on salmonellosis

Abstract

Key words: Salmonellosis, consumer awareness, behaviour, health promotion strategy Foodborne illness especially salmonellosis cause a significant burden of illness globally. In many countries, an upward trend is apparent and this is expected to increase further in the future. Case investigation by the Disease Surveillance Branch, Malta revealed that most of the cases are due to poor food safety practices in their homes. This directs control strategies towards the consumer in the home. Consumer awareness studies have shown that in general, consumers are aware of food safety precautions yet still resort to high risk behaviours. Three focus groups and a small case control study were carried out to gather information about local consumer knowledge and attitudes towards safe food handling in the home. These studies showed that persons who themselves or a dependent were exposed to Salmonellosis had a higher level of awareness to certain elements of food safety awareness. Also persons have to be convinced that food safety measures do have an effect before they will act upon messages. These results were then used to plan a local health promotion strategy. In conclusion, consumer education strategies need to emphasise the burden of illness, making safe food handling meaningful to consumers . Continuous reinforcement of the set of messages may be effective in empowering the consumer to foster behaviour change.