Abstract
Introduction: Meal-kits provide fresh foods and pantry items with a recipe card, delivered directly to the consumer’s home. Packaged in a cardboard box with cooling packs, recipe boxes are prepared ready for the consumer to use for domestic meal preparation and cooking. Limited UK research exists on the potential food safety risks associated with meal-kits and consumers awareness of these risks.
Purpose: The aim of this study was to establish consumers knowledge, attitudes and self-reported safe food handling practices associated with meal-kits through interviews and a questionnaire.
Methods: Using social media, volunteer and snowball sampling were used to recruit and interview meal-kit consumers (n=27) and a questionnaire distributed to the UK public (n=350). Qualitative analysis was performed using NVIVO. Descriptive frequency analysis was conducted using SPSS.
Results: Quantitative analysis found that 56% of meal-kit consumers always wash fruit and vegetables; but only 44% wash herbs: “I've never- if I was buying stuff in the supermarket, I don't do it either. I should, I know, but I don't”. Consumers indicated ‘always’ handwashing before meal preparation (89%) while 78% ‘always’ wash hands after handling raw high-risk animal proteins: “Yeah, so I've washed my hands at the beginning. And then after handling meat, those are probably the only- normally don't- more than that...”. Only 38% use a temperature probe during cooking while 89% agree that experience is a good indicator to judge when food is cooked: “...if it was chicken let's say, I’d like cut into it to see...otherwise, I would just go by kind of go by eye and experience.”
Significance: Results indicate some food safety awareness among consumers and positive food safety practices, however, given that there is often a disconnect between self-reported practices and actual behavior future observational research could focus on consumers cooking a meal-kit in the domestic environment.
Purpose: The aim of this study was to establish consumers knowledge, attitudes and self-reported safe food handling practices associated with meal-kits through interviews and a questionnaire.
Methods: Using social media, volunteer and snowball sampling were used to recruit and interview meal-kit consumers (n=27) and a questionnaire distributed to the UK public (n=350). Qualitative analysis was performed using NVIVO. Descriptive frequency analysis was conducted using SPSS.
Results: Quantitative analysis found that 56% of meal-kit consumers always wash fruit and vegetables; but only 44% wash herbs: “I've never- if I was buying stuff in the supermarket, I don't do it either. I should, I know, but I don't”. Consumers indicated ‘always’ handwashing before meal preparation (89%) while 78% ‘always’ wash hands after handling raw high-risk animal proteins: “Yeah, so I've washed my hands at the beginning. And then after handling meat, those are probably the only- normally don't- more than that...”. Only 38% use a temperature probe during cooking while 89% agree that experience is a good indicator to judge when food is cooked: “...if it was chicken let's say, I’d like cut into it to see...otherwise, I would just go by kind of go by eye and experience.”
Significance: Results indicate some food safety awareness among consumers and positive food safety practices, however, given that there is often a disconnect between self-reported practices and actual behavior future observational research could focus on consumers cooking a meal-kit in the domestic environment.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - 15 Jul 2024 |
| Event | International Association for Food Protection: 2024 Annual Meeting - Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach, United States Duration: 14 Jul 2024 → 17 Jul 2024 https://www.foodprotection.org/annualmeeting/ |
Conference
| Conference | International Association for Food Protection |
|---|---|
| Abbreviated title | IAFP |
| Country/Territory | United States |
| City | Long Beach |
| Period | 14/07/24 → 17/07/24 |
| Internet address |