Williams P R, Hammitt J K
Center for Risk Analysis, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Risk Anal. 2001 Apr;21(2):319-30. doi: 10.1111/0272-4332.212114.
Public risk perceptions and demand for safer food are important factors shaping agricultural production practices in the United States. Despite documented food safety concerns, little attempt has been made to elicit consumers' subjective risk judgments for a range of food safety hazards or to identify factors most predictive of perceived food safety risks. In this study, over 700 conventional and organic fresh produce buyers in the Boston area were surveyed for their perceived food safety risks. Survey results showed that consumers perceived relatively high risks associated with the consumption and production of conventionally grown produce compared with other public health hazards. For example, conventional and organic food buyers estimated the median annual fatality rate due to pesticide residues on conventionally grown food to be about 50 per million and 200 per million, respectively, which is similar in magnitude to the annual mortality risk from motor vehicle accidents in the United States. Over 90% of survey respondents also perceived a reduction in pesticide residue risk associated with substituting organically grown produce for conventionally grown produce, and nearly 50% perceived a risk reduction due to natural toxins and microbial pathogens. Multiple regression analyses indicate that only a few factors are consistently predictive of higher risk perceptions, including feelings of distrust toward regulatory agencies and the safety of the food supply. A variety of factors were found to be significant predictors of specific categories of food hazards, suggesting that consumers may view food safety risks as dissimilar from one another. Based on study findings, it is recommended that future agricultural policies and risk communication efforts utilize a comparative risk approach that targets a range of food safety hazards.
公众对风险的认知以及对更安全食品的需求是影响美国农业生产实践的重要因素。尽管有记录表明存在食品安全问题，但几乎没有人尝试去了解消费者对一系列食品安全危害的主观风险判断，也没有人去确定最能预测感知到的食品安全风险的因素。在这项研究中，对波士顿地区700多名传统和有机新鲜农产品购买者进行了调查，了解他们感知到的食品安全风险。调查结果显示，与其他公共卫生危害相比，消费者认为传统种植农产品的消费和生产存在相对较高的风险。例如，传统食品和有机食品购买者估计，因传统种植食品上的农药残留导致的年死亡率中位数分别约为百万分之50和百万分之200，这与美国机动车事故的年死亡风险相当。超过90%的调查受访者还认为，用有机种植的农产品替代传统种植的农产品会降低农药残留风险，近50%的受访者认为天然毒素和微生物病原体导致的风险会降低。多元回归分析表明，只有少数因素能持续预测更高的风险认知，包括对监管机构和食品供应安全的不信任感。研究发现，多种因素是特定类别食品危害的重要预测指标，这表明消费者可能认为食品安全风险彼此不同。基于研究结果，建议未来的农业政策和风险沟通工作采用针对一系列食品安全危害的比较风险方法。
