Do Polish Consumers Take Proper Care of Hygiene while Shopping and Preparing Meals at Home in the Context of Wasting Food?

Marzena Tomaszewska, Beata Bilska and Danuta Kołożyn-Krajewska
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Marzena Tomaszewska: Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW, Institute of Human Nutrition Sciences, Department of Food Gastronomy and Food Hygiene, 159C Nowoursynowska St., 02-776 Warsaw, Poland
Beata Bilska: Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW, Institute of Human Nutrition Sciences, Department of Food Gastronomy and Food Hygiene, 159C Nowoursynowska St., 02-776 Warsaw, Poland
Danuta Kołożyn-Krajewska: Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW, Institute of Human Nutrition Sciences, Department of Food Gastronomy and Food Hygiene, 159C Nowoursynowska St., 02-776 Warsaw, Poland

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 6, 1-21

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to evaluate the knowledge and practices of Polish consumers in terms of broadly defined hygiene on food preparation at home. The consequence of improper food handling may be a faster rate of food spoilage. A specially designed questionnaire was used. The study was conducted on a nationwide, random, and representative group of 1115 adult respondents. Segmentation (cluster analysis) of respondents differing in their practice and knowledge of meal preparation and personal hygiene was carried out. Several areas were diagnosed in which the respondents’ knowledge and practice were insufficient, such as storage of food products, inappropriate conduct of the thawing process, and heating of dishes. It was found that the best practice and knowledge of the issues discussed were characteristic of unemployed women over 35 years of age (cluster D). They offen gave answers that were significantly different ( p < 0.05) from those given by the other clusters. The most limited knowledge and the worst practices were characteristic of mainly men with elementary and secondary education who are a part of the labor force (cluster E and A). The segmentation provided valuable information which indicates that educational programs on food safety need to be further strengthened.

Keywords: consumers; food safety; food safety knowledge; food safety practice; food waste; food spoilage; cluster analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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