Perceived Risks of Conventional and Organic Produce: Pesticides, Pathogens, and Natural Toxins
Perceived Risks of Conventional and Organic Produce: Pesticides, Pathogens, and Natural Toxins
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DOI：
10.1111/0272-4332.212114
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发表时间：
2001-04
期刊：
影响因子：
3.8
通讯作者：
Pamela R. D. Williams;J. Hammitt
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Pamela R. D. Williams;J. Hammitt
公众的风险认知和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。尽管有文件记载的食品安全问题，很少有人试图引起消费者的主观风险判断的一系列食品安全危害或确定因素的最可预测的食品安全风险。在这项研究中，波士顿地区超过700名传统和有机新鲜农产品买家接受了食品安全风险调查。调查结果显示，消费者认为，与其他公共卫生危害相比，传统种植农产品的消费和生产风险相对较高。例如，传统和有机食品购买者估计，传统种植的食品中农药残留造成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造成的年死亡风险的程度相似。超过90%的受访者还认为，用有机种植的农产品替代传统种植的农产品，可以降低农药残留风险，近50%的受访者认为，由于天然毒素和微生物病原体，农药残留风险降低。多元回归分析表明，只有少数几个因素始终预测较高的风险认知，包括对监管机构和食品供应安全的不信任感。各种因素被认为是特定类别的食品危害的重要预测因素，这表明消费者可能会认为食品安全风险彼此不同。根据研究结果，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。
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.