Pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables are the top food safety fear among consumers in five countries.
Scientists from the nonprofit organization CABI used survey data from 8,644 people in Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya, Pakistan and Uganda. They assessed concerns about food safety risks, attitudes towards the use of pesticides in fruit and vegetable production, and how pesticide concerns and socio-economic factors influence the choice of sales markets.
Consumers who expressed concerns about pesticides were more likely to request fruits and vegetables from specialty stores and avoid such goods from street vendors.
The study, published in the journal Global food securityfound that pesticides were the most commonly cited source of food safety problems, followed by microbial food poisoning and food additives.
Concerns about pesticide use
The percentage of respondents whose household members reportedly experienced symptoms of food poisoning after consuming fruits and vegetables ranged from 23 percent in Kenya to 43 percent in Pakistan.
Dr. Justice Tambo, lead author of the study and senior socio-economist at CABI, said: “Fruits and vegetables are crucial components of nutritious and healthy diets, but there are growing concerns about the food safety risks associated with their consumption.
“Given the less importance that consumers in Africa attach to safety and quality features when choosing fruit and vegetable stores, it is not surprising that very few of them buy their fruit and vegetables from supermarkets, which are believed to be linked to the sales of high-quality products. -quality and safer food products.”
Scientists suggested that the high concern about pesticide residues could be due to several factors. These include the intensive use of synthetic pesticides and low adoption of non-chemical pest management strategies among fruit and vegetable farmers in the studied countries. The share of farmers opting for chemical pest control varies from 77 percent in Kenya to over 90 percent in Bangladesh, Ghana and Pakistan. About half of these farmers reportedly spray pesticides on their farms every week.
Surveys were conducted between 2021 and 2023 to understand food safety concerns and practices among consumers in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).
A lack of information
The questionnaires included sections on consumer demographics, food consumption patterns and purchasing behavior, food safety awareness and concerns, pesticide risks and safety issues, and pesticide use practices in fruit and vegetable production.
Scientists found that on average, only 56 percent of respondents had received food safety information. In Pakistan and Uganda, less than half of people had been exposed to food safety information from radio, television, the Internet, family and friends, and public health officials.
Consumers in LMICs tend to use multiple outlets for their fruit and vegetable purchases, including modern retail outlets such as supermarkets and specialty stores and traditional outlets such as hawkers and open-air and roadside markets.
Less than a quarter of participants in Africa pay particular attention to product quality and safety when choosing fruit and vegetable outlets, compared to about half of the sample of Asian consumers.
Distance and price were key factors that consumers consider when deciding on retail production.
A higher proportion of Bangladeshi consumers expressed concerns about food safety issues than people in Ghana, Kenya, Pakistan and Uganda. For example, almost two-thirds of Bangladeshi consumers expressed concerns about microbial food poisoning, heavy metal contamination and food additives. In contrast, less than half of consumers in other countries had such concerns.
(Click here to sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News.)