How has public perception of food safety and health risks changed a year after the pandemic and vaccines roll out?

ABSTRACT

The recent coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has caused unprecedented turmoil and spurred fears that have profoundly changed the public's social and health behaviours, including the perception of food safety risks. One year after the pandemic and the global vaccination campaign, the public perception of food safety and the changes in their hygiene behaviour, health risks concerns, and trust were studied in Jordan, Lebanon, and Tunisia using a cross-sectional online survey. The results of 538 subjects showed a rise in the frequency of hygiene practices, notably in handwashing. Sixty-four percent of the participants were vaccinated, a proportion made up mainly of the Jordanians and Lebanese. For 66% and 64% of the two population groups, respectively, there were no longer trust concerns about COVID-19 health risks following vaccination, whereas the worries about getting COVID-19 persisted for others. Only 47% of participants trusted eating food prepared by vaccinated food handlers. A great majority of the Tunisians (81%) showed varying degrees of concern about COVID-19 transmission from food and the lowest vaccination rate (33%). The current study demonstrated that the impact of vaccination policy positively affects public perception of food-related risks during the pandemic. On the other hand, 33% of the surveyed Jordanians and Tunisians lost trust in the health authorities' management of the pandemic, and 45% of the Lebanese still don't trust them. Communication strategies on health and food safety with the public still represent a challenge for these and probably other countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Strategies for building and maintaining public trust are crucial to curb persistent fear of food, hence, avoiding potential stigmatization affecting the food economy by promoting health awareness and positive changes in food safety perceptions for safer practices.