A recent report on a survey in Austria revealed how concerned different groups are about a variety of topics, including food safety.
The Risk Barometer examines how Austrian citizens perceive different factors that influence their health. The online survey was conducted from late 2023 to early 2024 and covered health, food safety, nutrition and the environment.
The focus was to compare the risk assessments of different occupational groups and the general public with experts from the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES). We asked 100 doctors, 183 veterinarians, 75 journalists, 102 teachers, 101 school lunch staff, 105 citizens, and 75 AGES experts.
In total, 44 percent of teachers, 40 percent of the public and 39 percent of the catering industry are concerned about food safety. Only 13 percent of AGES experts, 16 percent of journalists, 20 percent of veterinarians, and 39 percent of doctors are concerned.
More than 70 per cent of teachers, school lunch staff and the general public believe that genetically modified foods pose a potential risk of adverse health effects, compared to 44 per cent of doctors, 46 per cent of veterinarians and 35 per cent of journalists. It is a percentage.
Concern about new food technologies in food production is highest among the public, teachers, and the food service industry, at over 60%. About half of doctors and veterinarians consider this topic to be a health risk, compared to a smaller proportion of journalists and AGES experts.
Different thoughts on dangerous topics
AGES experts estimate that the risk of adverse health effects associated with food additives, pesticide residues, and food contact materials is lower than in other groups studied.
For AGES experts, pathogens and antibiotic resistance are more important health risks. Data on pathogens and foodborne illness outbreaks support this judgment. Pathogens in food are cited as a potential risk by 40 percent of physicians and 44 percent of veterinarians. This amounts to 67% of the population and 65% of AGES experts.
The public is concerned about malnutrition or overeating, sugar content in the diet, the impact of pesticides on the environment, composition of materials that come into contact with food, extreme weather, antibiotic resistance, microplastics in food, the effects of pesticides, pesticide residues in food, and its impact. Hormone-like substances are among the top 10 risks most likely to cause adverse effects.
Ingredients in food contact materials are considered a potential risk by 77 percent of the population and 45 percent of AGES experts. Health risks from pesticide residues in food are considered likely to occur by 78 percent of the population and 44 percent of AGES experts.
The biggest difference is genetically modified foods. A total of 71 percent of Austrians surveyed believe that there is a possible risk of adverse health effects, while only a few AGES experts believe that there is a possible risk of adverse health effects. Only 14 percent.
Results from populations, teachers, and catering indicate that non-experts underestimate or accept risks to some extent when taking risks voluntarily, such as overeating, or when the possible consequences are delayed. Masu. We tend to overestimate a risk if it is difficult to understand, if it is new, if it is an unnatural risk, or if the topic has a high media presence. Also, people have a hard time distinguishing between the terms risk and danger.
According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), a hazard is something that has the potential to cause harm to people, and a risk refers to the likelihood that a hazard will cause harm. For example, poisonous mushrooms are dangerous, but so is eating poisonous mushrooms.
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