Determinants of the food safety knowledge and practice among Iranian consumers A population-based study from northwest of Iran

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to determine the food safety knowledge and practices of the Iranian consumers and also its association with socio-demographic characteristics. Design/methodology/approach - In the present cross-sectional and population-based study, the validated food safety questionnaires applied to 1,500 participants who were selected through multistage stratified cluster sampling from the capital city and regional area of East-Azerbaijan -Iran. The Student t-test and analysis of variance and linear regression were used for statistical analysis. Findings - Although the overall percentages of mean score for knowledge (77.66 percent) and self-reported practice (70.77 percent) were good, there was a low level of awareness and self-reported practice in some subsections such as optimal heating/cooling temperature, proper thawing techniques and eating raw egg. Female and married respondents had significantly higher mean knowledge score than males (p < 0.001) and singles (p = 0.04). Residents of regional areas acted more safely than capital city residents (p = 0.01). Research limitations/implications - Despite the good knowledge of some respondents regarding food safety, their food safety practices were poor. It can thus be suggested that the future studies have better focus on investigating the perceived barriers of consumers about food safety practices. Practical implications - Although the mean knowledge and practice regarding food safety of Iranian consumers was good, yet there is the lack of knowledge and practice on some important factors related to food poisonings such as eating raw or lightly cooked egg or improper heating/thawing practices. So, it is important to develop proper food safety education programs emphasizing on these issues. According to lower food safety knowledge and practice of low-educated, single and male respondents, the educational programs should mainly focus on these groups. Originality/value - For the development of effective food safety education programs in Iran, learning about the basic knowledge and practice of consumers is essential; however, there is limited data that directly tackles this issue in Iran.