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The SafeConsume educational suite was designed to improve knowledge about undertaking safer food practices and avoiding food-borne illnesses among young people. The resources were designed to support educators and members of the community who teach young people (aged 11–18 years) and include lesson plans and supporting teacher training resources. To assess the efficacy and suitability of the resources, an evaluation of the central lesson, the ‘user journey’, was conducted within four European countries. The mixed-methods evaluation included the following elements: a pre- and post-scenario-based questionnaire, a satisfaction questionnaire, focus groups with students; and interviews with teachers. Data from the scenario-based questionnaires were analysed using a mixed effects normal linear regression model. Qualitative data were thematically analysed, and the main themes were discussed. A total of 171 students and 9 educators took part from schools based in Portugal, Hungary, France and England. The results indicated a significant improvement in students’ knowledge and understanding of appropriate food hygiene practices overall, although this varied among countries. The resources were found to be well-suited to help teachers deliver the lesson, being considered by teachers to be both informative and flexible. Minor alternations were suggested, including alterations to lesson delivery or breaking the lesson into smaller sections, and increasing the lesson’s interactivity.

Foodborne diseases are a global burden, are preventable, and young people are a key population for behaviour change as they gain autonomy. This study aimed to explore young people’s needs across several European countries in relation to learning about and implementing food hygiene and food safety. Qualitative focus groups and interviews were conducted in rural and city regions across England, France, Hungary and Portugal. Data were collected to attain data saturation, transcribed, thematically analysed, and mapped to the Theoretical Domains Framework. Twenty-five out of 84 schools approached (29.8%) participated, with data collected from 156 11–18-year-old students. Students had good knowledge of personal hygiene but did not always follow hygiene rules due to forgetfulness, lack of facilities or lack of concern for consequences. Students had limited understanding of foodborne microbes, underestimated the risks and consequences of foodborne illness and perceived the “home” environment as the safest. Young people preferred interactive educational methods. Addressing gaps in young people’s food safety knowledge is essential to improve their lack of concern towards foodborne illness and motivate them to follow food hygiene and safety behaviours consistently. Findings have been used to develop educational resources to address gaps in knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs.

About 40% of foodborne infections are acquired in the home. The aim of the present study was to track contamination of pathogens during domestic food preparation and link the contamination to preparation practices. Research participants from 87 households in six European countries were observed and interviewed during shopping and preparation of a chicken and vegetable meal. The presence of Salmonella spp., Campylobacter spp. and norovirus on raw chicken, kitchen surfaces, cloths and sponges was determined.\ud \ud \ud \ud The prevalence of Campylobacter on raw chicken varied from 8.3% in Norway (NO) to 80% in France (FR) and Portugal (PT), with a mean prevalence of 57%. Campylobacter was found on half of the products that had been frozen and appeared to be less prevalent on chicken from supermarkets than other sources. Salmonella was found in 8.6% of raw chicken samples, exclusively from Hungary (HU).\ud \ud \ud \ud A relationship between observed practices and spread of pathogens to kitchen surfaces was found only for the use of cutting boards for chicken and/or vegetables. After food preparation, Campylobacter and Salmonella were isolated from 23% (samples derived from HU, RO, UK) and 8.7% (HU), respectively of cutting boards. Research participants in France and Portugal were more likely to buy products that fitted their recipe, with less need for using cutting boards. Using the same board and knife for vegetables after using it for chicken and without washing with detergent was common in Portugal and Romania, but not in the other countries. Contamination with Campylobacter to other kitchen surfaces or washing utensils were found in five households (UK, RO, PT). Rinsing chicken in sinks was common in three countries (PT, HU, RO), and washing vegetables in the same sink was also usual. Prevalence of Norovirus was low, with detection in one out of 451 samples. The participants' awareness of the risk posed by pathogens from raw chicken differed among the six countries, with higher awareness in Norway and the UK than the other countries studied.\ud \ud \ud \ud In conclusion, practices intended to avoid cross-contamination from chicken to kitchen surfaces and washing utensils are not established among consumers in all European countries. Nevertheless, cross-contamination events that disseminate infectious doses of pathogens seems to be rare, probably due to the relatively low levels of pathogens in food combined with food preferences. Food safety interventions must consider the national food culture, preferences, practices and the prevalence and levels of pathogens in food. Emphasis should be on providing and promoting chicken products with lower risk (prevalence of pathogens, ready-to-cook) and safe use of cutting boards.

Campylobacter spp. are the most common bacterial pathogens associated with human gastroenteritis in industrialized countries. Contaminated chicken is the food vehicle associated with the majority of reported cases of campylobacteriosis, either by the consumption of undercooked meat or via cross- contamination of ready-to-eat (RTE) foods during the handling of contaminated raw chicken parts and carcasses. Our results indicate that cooking salt (used for seasoning) is a potential vehicle for Campylobacter spp. cross-contamination from raw chicken to lettuce, through unwashed hands after handling contaminated chicken. Cross-contamination events were observed even when the chicken skin was contaminated with low levels of Campylobacter spp. (ca. 1.48 Log CFU/g). The pathogen was recovered from seasoned lettuce samples when raw chicken was contaminated with levels ≥ 2.34 Log CFU/g. We also demonstrated that, once introduced into cooking salt, Campylobacter spp. are able to survive in a culturable state up to 4 hours. After six hours, although not detected following an enrichment period in culture medium, intact cells were observed by transmission electron microscopy. These findings reveal a “novel” indirect cross-contamination route of Campylobacter in domestic settings, and a putative contamination source to RTE foods that are seasoned with salt, that might occur if basic food hygiene practices are not adopted by consumers when preparing and cooking poultry dishes. This work was supported by SafeConsume – European Union Horizon2020 Grant Agreement No 727580. We would also like to thank the scientific collaboration under the Fundac¸ão para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) project UID/Multi/50016/2019 and PDR 2020, Portugal 2020 and the EU GRUPO OPERACIONAL ID 228, CAMPYFREE: PDR2020-1.0.1-FEADER-PDR2020-101-031254.

Background Decreasing food waste has become an important area of food policy. This paper investigates the relationship between food waste reduction and food safety risks. It is a frequent question in both public and professional discussions that how the utilization of expired food stuffs and leftovers could be solved without compromising food safety. Scope and Approach The most important food waste reduction theories and initiatives are listed and evaluated. Key Findings and Conclusions It is challenging to find the golden rule of balance between food waste and food safety. Solutions that seem to be credible often raise the risk to consumers. In order to meet both aspects, cooperation and co-development of food chain actors (consumers and authorities as well) are needed.

Academic research on food consumer behavior related to food safety has developed extremely rapidly in the last decades, and a sizable amount of knowledge has been accumulated in this interdisciplinary field. This information set, as big data, lends itself to bibliometric analysis. Based on the Web of Science database and on a statistical analysis of more than 26.6 thousand articles containing more than 3.4 million bibliometric pieces of information, the current article offers a systematic analysis of these statistical data. The dynamics of relevant publications show an exponential character. The field is dominated by researchers from welfare states, however, food safety is a more important problem in developing states. There are dynamic changes in the portfolio of journals, but Bradford’s law cannot be proven. The explanatory power of Lotka’s law has been decreasing, proving the de-concentration of relevant authors. Besides traditional disciplines like consumer science, food chemistry, microbiology, and technology, new disciplines, e.g., sociology, cultural anthropology, postmodern techniques, and the real-life study of consumer behavior, going beyond the application of traditional techniques, are gaining importance. There are three key challenges for further research: (1) contribution to a deeper understanding of inherent laws governing the food-consumer-environment system, (2) quantification of results for decision-makers to enhance the efficiency of policy preparation, (3) widening the scope of research in geographical terms, better involving the developing world, and in sociological terms, focusing on the specific needs of vulnerable groups.

Millions of people have no access to healthy and safe food due to food insecurity that may occur at household, regional or national levels. National policies, insufficient agricultural development and low levels of education may lead to food insecurity. Furthermore, food quality and food safety is a major benchmark of economic development. Food borne risks to human health can arise from biological, chemical or physical hazards. Risk analysis is a key discipline for reducing food borne diseases and food insecurity, and for strengthening food safety systems. Food safety risk analysis is used for assessing and managing risks associated with food hazards. The risk analysis process contains three elements: risk assessment, risk management and risk communication. This paper focuses on risk communication and summarizes the results and findings of the case study for official food safety communicators. The preliminary descriptive study intends to present the reaction of Hungarian consumers to a crisis that affected a wide range of society. In 2007, the guar gum scandal caused panic among consumers when dioxin-contaminated guar gum entered the food chain. This food contamination scare followed previous occasions such as production of intoxicated paprika powder, re-labelling of overdue meat packages and the Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) crisis in Hungary. To analyze risk perception and consumer behavior, a primary research was conducted with a sample size of 1,577.

International audience; The data presented here capture the structure of kitchen layouts belonging to consumers vulnerable to foodborne diseases and food risk-takers. Data were collected in the frame of the SafeConsume project by multidisciplinary research teams that visited consumers during preparing a meal and had the possibility to examine their cooking routines. Distances between sink and stove, sink and refrigerator, stove and refrigerator, sink and working place (countertop or table), stove and working place were analyzed to correlate food safety practices applied during cooking with kitchen arrangements. The results arising from analyzing the ergonomics of kitchens versus potential cross-contamination events are presented in Mihalache et al., [1]. These data contribute to a better understanding of real kitchen layouts and can be used as a starting point for future research regarding food safety-oriented arrangements instead of ergonomics-focused designs, for food safety risk assessments, as study cases for explaining specific measures that can be established to improve food handling and hygiene practices in homes and for sociological research pointing consumers' behavior during cooking.

Aim: Foodborne illnesses have a significant global burden and can be life-threatening, with higher risk in vulnerable groups such as children. SafeConsume is an EU-funded, transdisciplinary project aiming to improve consumers’ food safety behaviour. Developing educational resources on food safety for use in schools has potential to improve teaching of our young consumers. The aim of this study was to explore school educators’ attitudes, behaviours and knowledge towards food hygiene, safety and education. Methods: Focus groups and interviews in England, France, Portugal and Hungary explored educator knowledge, skills, intentions and beliefs around educating young people (11–18 years) about food safety. Data were analysed using NVivo and emerging themes were applied to the Theoretical Domains Framework. Results: A total of 48 educators participated. Knowledge, confidence and skills to teach food safety to young people varied depending on background and training. Educators reported they had a role to teach food safety to young people, were positive about delivering education and optimistic they could improve students’ food safety behaviour. Barriers to teaching included lack of national curriculum coverage, limited time and money, and lack of facilities. Educators reported that social influences (family, celebrity chefs, public health campaigns and social media) were important opportunities to improve young peoples’ awareness of food safety and consequences of foodborne illness. Conclusion: Educator food safety expertise varied; training could help to optimise educator knowledge, confidence and skills. Ministries of Health and Education need encouragement to get food safety incorporated further into school curricula across Europe, so schools will be motivated to prioritise these topics.