Contaminants in Food: Health Risks of Natural Origin Frequently Underestimated

GERMANY - The following are the findings of a representative study recently conducted by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) on the risk perception of contaminants in food.
calendar icon 18 September 2017
clock icon 2 minute read

The findings were published in the public health journal Bundesgesundheitsblatt - Gesundheitsforschung - Gesundheitsschutz (doi:10.1007/s00103-017-2557-2 - in German with English abstract).

"People feel most at risk from synthetic substances and heavy metals", says BfR President Professor Dr Andreas Hensel. "Appropriate risk communication on contaminants should take this subjective risk perception into account."

Contaminants are undesirable substances that unintentionally find their way into food products. They can occur naturally in the environment and in the processing of raw materials into food products or can be released into the environment through human activity and thereby enter the food chain. Contaminants are undesirable because they can impair health under certain circumstances.

1,001 people were asked about contaminants in food in the representative population survey using computer-assisted telephone interviews. The most well-known contaminants in food are mercury in fish and dioxin in eggs or milk (with scores of 78 per cent and 70 per cent, respectively).

In contrast, pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) in tea or honey (13 per cent) and arsenic in rice and rice products (26 per cent) as relatively new consumer protection topics are only known to a minority of respondents. Only 36 per cent and 57 per cent of those who have heard of PAs or arsenic see these substances as posing a significant risk to health.

General attitudes towards contaminants in food and the assessment of potential health risks also differ by population group. Compared to women, for example, men see the risks of undesirable substances in barbecued meat as being lower. Men tend to spend less time in general than female respondents thinking about the issue of undesirable substances in food.

Younger people feel less well informed about undesirable substances in food than their older counterparts: some 41 per cent of 14 to 29 year-olds say they are poorly or very poorly informed about undesirable substances in food compared to 15 per cent of those above the age of 60.

It is particularly those respondents who are relatively well informed who would like additional information on possible protective measures, legal regulations and affected product groups. When it comes to communicating health risks, the main challenge is therefore to raise awareness levels for this topic among the less well-informed population groups.

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