Similar or different? Comparing food cultures with regard to traditional and modern eating across ten countries.

Food cultures can play a role in health and well-being. This raises the questions of whether nation boundaries unite the food cultures of different regions and ethnic groups, what characterises food cultures from very different parts of the world, and what similarities and differences exist. The present study aimed to investigate these questions with regard to eating traditions and modern eating practices. In this cross-sectional study, we recruited 3722 participants from ten countries - Brazil, China, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Japan, Mexico, Turkey, and the USA. Participants represented 25 regional and ethnic groups. They were queried about 86 traditional and modern facets of their food cultures in interviews, paper-pencil and online questionnaires. First, hierarchical cluster analysis suggested nine distinct clusters of food cultures - the food cultures of the Brazilian, Chinese, Ghanaian, Indian, Japanese, Mexican, Turkish, African and Latin US American samples, and of European descendants. Interestingly, for seven of the ten investigated countries, nation boundaries united food cultures. Second, each of the nine food culture clusters was characterised by a unique pattern of traditional and modern eating practices. Third, the nine food culture clusters varied more in their traditional eating practices than their modern eating practices. These results might promote a better understanding of the link between food cultures and health and well-being that goes beyond nutrients. For instance, food cultures might be linked to well-being via strengthening people's sense of cultural identity. Moreover, the present results contribute to a better understanding of the complex interplay between food and culture, and could help in developing culturally competent interventions to improve diet and reduce the risk of eating-related diseases.

Understanding traditional and modern eating: the TEP10 framework.

Across the world, there has been a movement from traditional to modern eating, including a movement of traditional eating patterns from their origin culture to new cultures, and the emergence of new foods and eating behaviors. This trend toward modern eating is of particular significance because traditional eating has been related to positive health outcomes and sustainability. Yet, there is no consensus on what constitutes traditional and modern eating. The present study provides a comprehensive compilation of the various facets that seem to make up traditional and modern eating. Specifically, 106 facets were mentioned in the previous literature and expert discussions, combining international and interdisciplinary perspectives. The present study provides a framework (the TEP10 framework) systematizing these 106 facets into two major dimensions, what and how people eat, and 12 subdimensions. Hence, focusing only on single facets of traditional and modern eating is an oversimplification of this complex phenomenon. Instead, the multidimensionality and interplay between different facets should be considered to gain a comprehensive understanding of the trends, consequences, and underlying factors of traditional and modern eating.

Values and risk perceptions: a cross-cultural examination.

This article examines the relationship between values and risk perceptions regarding terror attacks. The participants in the study are university students from Turkey (n = 536) and Israel (n = 298). Schwartz value theory (1992, 1994) is applied to conceptualize and measure values. Cognitive (perceived likelihood and perceived severity) and emotional (fear, helplessness, anger, distress, insecurity, hopelessness, sadness, and anxiety) responses about the potential of (i) being personally exposed to a terror attack, and (ii) a terror attack that may occur in one's country are assessed to measure risk perceptions. Comparison of the two groups suggests that the Turkish participants are significantly more emotional about terror risks than the Israeli respondents. Both groups perceive the risk of a terror attack that may occur in their country more likely than the risk of being personally exposed to a terror attack. No significant differences are found in emotional representations and perceived severity ratings regarding these risks. Results provide support for the existence of a link between values and risk perceptions of terror attacks. In both countries, self-direction values are negatively related to emotional representations, whereas security values are positively correlated with emotions; hedonism and stimulation values are negatively related to perceived likelihood. Current findings are discussed in relation to previous results, theoretical approaches (the social amplification of risk framework and cultural theory of risk), and practical implications (increasing community support for a course of action, training programs for risk communicators).

Diagnosing food-borne illness: a behavioral analysis of barriers to testing.

Public health authorities rely on the timely flow of laboratory results to detect and control food-borne illnesses. At times, social and economic barriers limit individuals' ability to get needed tests. We demonstrate a simple behavioral approach to assess the cost-effectiveness of interventions designed to remove three social and economic barriers to testing individuals with acute diarrheal illness: testing costs, income loss, and inconvenience. We use readily available statistics to rank programs by their cost effectiveness to identify those most worthy of studying in greater detail.

Sticky decisions: peanut butter in a time of Salmonella.

We present a consumer-focused perspective on creating communications regarding potentially contaminated foods. It is illustrated with decisions that might have faced US consumers during the 2009 recalls of peanut and pistachio products. The example shows how knowledge about test results and regulatory processes might be made more useful to consumers.