| Autor: |
Soon-Sinclair JM; Faculty of Allied-Health and Wellbeing, University of Central Lancashire, Preston PRI 2HE, UK., Imathiu S; Department of Food Science and Technology, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi 00200, Kenya., Obadina AO; Department of Food Science and Technology, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta P.M.B 2240, Nigeria.; Department of Biotechnology and Food Technology, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2092, South Africa., Dongho Dongmo FF; Department of Biochemistry, University of Douala-Cameroon, Douala 24157, Cameroon., Kamgain ADT; Institute of Medical Research and Medicinal Plants Studies, Yaoundé 13033, Cameroon.; Food Evolution Research Laboratory, School of Tourism and Hospitality, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2092, South Africa., Moholisa E; Agricultural Research Council-Animal Production Institute, Irene 0062, South Africa., Saba CKS; Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biosciences, University for Development Studies, Tamale P.O. Box TL 1882, Ghana., Walekhwa AW; Infectious Diseases Epidemiology and Modelling Unit, Makerere University, Kampala P.O. Box 22418, Uganda., Hunga H; Department of Land Resources Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture, Lilongwe P.O. Box 30291, Malawi., Kussaga J; Department of Food Science and Agroprocessing, School of Engineering and Technology, College of Agriculture, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro P.O. Box 3000, Tanzania. |
| Abstrakt: |
Food fraud is an old, recurring, and global threat to public health. It poses a serious threat to food security in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Despite the prevalence of food fraud in SSA, little is known about how food fraud is viewed by consumers. This study aims to provide an overview of consumers' concerns about food fraud in SSA. A multi-country survey was conducted in October 2022-31 January 2023, and 838 valid responses were returned. To reduce the large and correlated dataset, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used. Five components were derived from PCA: (i) Staple foods; (ii) Premium food and drink products; (iii) Trust in reliable sources; (iv) Trust in less reliable sources; and (v) Trust in food vendors. The findings revealed Ghanaian (mean rank = 509.47) and Nigerian (mean rank = 454.82) consumers tended to score higher on the measure of food fraud concern suggesting that they were less confident in the safety and quality of the food they consume. Demographic characteristics including age, number of children, personal and family experience of food fraud and PCA components such as 'Staple foods', 'Trust in reliable sources', and 'Trust in food vendors' significantly predicted the model. This is the first preliminary study to provide empirical findings on consumers' concerns about food fraud in SSA. Practical and policy recommendations for the region are suggested. This includes (i) modelling the AfriFoodinTegrity in West Africa across other major regions such as Central, East, and Southern Africa; (ii) establish a regional sub-Saharan Africa Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (SSA-RASFF) platform; and (iii) food safety and food fraud reports could be incorporated into SSA-RASFF portal for information sharing. |
