Suchergebnisse

Food industry has been a strategic sector for Hungary. Production of abundant, safe and quality foodstuff is important for our domestic and foreign consumers. In the 21st century domestic food products still have appreciation, so it is quite important to maintain and improve consumers' trust in Hungarian food. The topic of food safety has a central position on the global interest map. In Hungary – in harmony with the European Union's food safety policy – the most important areas are: consumer health protection (can not be influenced by any economic and/or political interest), food safety and food security (guarantee the country's sovereignty). In the last five decades food supply and food consumption have changed and it has become more intensive in the last 15-20 years. The identification and management of emerging risks have also become important and necessary. Hungarian Food Chain Control Authority, food-businesses and consumers are all responsible for the reduction of risk factors in the food chain. The methodology of risk analysis includes studying consumer risk perception as a part of risk communication. Consumer research is a tool to gain first-hand information and results help building Authority programs and planning consumer-centralized projects for companies.

AbstractThe aim of this study is to explore behavioral patterns behind household food waste with partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Results are based on a quantitative consumer survey with personal interviews. Sample (n = 1002) is representative of the adult population of Hungary in regard to age, sex, and geographical distribution. Statistical analysis included descriptive tests, variance analysis, principal component analysis, factor analysis, and PLS-SEM modeling. Based on multivariate tests, income, age, education, residence, and region were identified as the most influential socio-demographical factors of food wastage. Within the framework of the attitude model, the first PLS-SEM model (normative model) validated that all three—cognitive, affective, and conative—attitude components have an effect on food wastage behavior, but the conative component revealed to be the most important one. This underlines the importance of childhood education and awareness raising to shape routines and behavioral patterns with proper messages and impulses. Based on the second PLS-SEM model (explicative model), cooking too much food was identified as the most prominent pattern that influences food wastage. Contrary to anticipations, unplanned food purchase represented only minor significance. The results provided behavioral insights to a national level food waste prevention campaign in Hungary, called Wasteless (Maradék nélkül). This campaign plays an important role to meet the requirements of new EU legislation on food waste and the recommendations of EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste.

The aim of this study is to explore behavioral patterns behind household food waste with partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Results are based on a quantitative consumer survey with personal interviews. Sample (n = 1002) is representative of the adult population of Hungary in regard to age, sex, and geographical distribution. Statistical analysis included descriptive tests, variance analysis, principal component analysis, factor analysis, and PLS-SEM modeling. Based on multivariate tests, income, age, education, residence, and region were identified as the most influential socio-demographical factors of food wastage. Within the framework of the attitude model, the first PLS-SEM model (normative model) validated that all three—cognitive, affective, and conative—attitude components have an effect on food wastage behavior, but the conative component revealed to be the most important one. This underlines the importance of childhood education and awareness raising to shape routines and behavioral patterns with proper messages and impulses. Based on the second PLS-SEM model (explicative model), cooking too much food was identified as the most prominent pattern that influences food wastage. Contrary to anticipations, unplanned food purchase represented only minor significance. The results provided behavioral insights to a national level food waste prevention campaign in Hungary, called Wasteless (Maradék nélkül). This campaign plays an important role to meet the requirements of new EU legislation on food waste and the recommendations of EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste.

Campylobacter spp. are the most common bacterial pathogens associated with human gastroenteritis in industrialized countries. Contaminated chicken is the food vehicle associated with the majority of reported cases of campylobacteriosis, either by the consumption of undercooked meat or via cross- contamination of ready-to-eat (RTE) foods during the handling of contaminated raw chicken parts and carcasses. Our results indicate that cooking salt (used for seasoning) is a potential vehicle for Campylobacter spp. cross-contamination from raw chicken to lettuce, through unwashed hands after handling contaminated chicken. Cross-contamination events were observed even when the chicken skin was contaminated with low levels of Campylobacter spp. (ca. 1.48 Log CFU/g). The pathogen was recovered from seasoned lettuce samples when raw chicken was contaminated with levels ≥ 2.34 Log CFU/g. We also demonstrated that, once introduced into cooking salt, Campylobacter spp. are able to survive in a culturable state up to 4 hours. After six hours, although not detected following an enrichment period in culture medium, intact cells were observed by transmission electron microscopy. These findings reveal a "novel" indirect cross-contamination route of Campylobacter in domestic settings, and a putative contamination source to RTE foods that are seasoned with salt, that might occur if basic food hygiene practices are not adopted by consumers when preparing and cooking poultry dishes. ; This work was supported by SafeConsume – European Union Horizon2020 Grant Agreement No 727580. We would also like to thank the scientific collaboration under the Fundac¸ão para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) project UID/Multi/50016/2019 and PDR 2020, Portugal 2020 and the EU GRUPO OPERACIONAL ID 228, CAMPYFREE: PDR2020-1.0.1-FEADER-PDR2020-101-031254. ; publishedVersion