Attitude on Safety of Animal Source Foods Among Consumers in Ampara District, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Animal source foods (ASFs) are the foods that are derived from the body of animals. Since ASFs are rich in nutrients, they can easily be contaminated and become unsafe for human consumption. Annually millions of people in the world suffer from food born diseases through consumption of contaminated ASFs. In this context, a study was conducted to identify the underline dimensions of ASFs safety attitudes among consumers in order to group them for the purpose of conducting ASFs risk reduction programmes. Three hundred adult consumers were randomly selected from coastal and inland areas of Ampara district, Sri Lanka. A pre tested structured questionnaire comprising of questions related to demographic information and ASFs safety attitudes were distributed among the consumers. The data were analyzed using SPSS (version 20). Factor analysis identified six dimensions of ASFs safety attitudes and named as Avoid risks, believe government regulations, selfconfidant, seek knowledge, believe awareness programmes and believe processors and consumers. Hierarchical cluster analysis based on the factor scores yielded 3 consumer segments as trusting, confidant and dependent. Chi-square analysis showed that four (education, area of living, ethnicity and religion) out of 12 demographic variables were significantly (p<0.05) different among consumer segments. Findings of this study could effectively be utilized in improving consumer attitudes on ASFs safety and planning risk reduction programmes.