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Food safety and the New Zealand public 2007 survey
7 Experiences of Poor Food Safety Standards
For the 2007 study, NZFSA requested that we ask questions about ‘food related illness’ rather than ‘food poisoning’. In terms of the related attitude statement, this has had a substantial impact on the results. 19% agreed with the statement ‘a little bit of food related illness every now and then is good as it builds your immunity’, compared with 9% who agreed with the same statement reworded to refer to food poisoning in 2005.
29% claimed that they had experienced food related illness over the last two years, up from 22% when the question was asked about food poisoning in 2005. Given that most other trends in this survey have moved only a little, this movement suggests something about the way respondents interpret ‘food related illness’ as opposed to ‘food poisoning’. We might expect that ‘food related illness’ would sound less severe to respondents than ‘food poisoning’ (because ‘poisoning’ has a strong and definite meaning). The upward trend may therefore be explained by respondents being more likely to say that they had been ‘ill’ from food rather than that they had been ‘poisoned’.
EXPERIENCED ANY FOOD RELATED ILLNESSES Have you experienced any food related illnesses at any time over the past two years? | |||
| |||
August 2003* % |
May 2005* % |
July 2007 % | |
Yes |
21 |
22 |
29 |
No |
79 |
77 |
71 |
Unsure |
- |
1 |
- |
|
* In 2003 and 2005 question read “Have you experienced food poisoning at any time over the past two years?” | |||
78% of respondents who said that they had experienced food related illness reported that they had experienced it outside their home, down from 83% in 2005 and 86% in 2003.
CAUSES OF FOOD RELATED ILLNESSES [Those who said that they have experienced food related illness over the past two years were asked:] Thinking of your most recent experience – do you think your food related illness was caused by food purchased outside your home, from contaminated products you used at home, or from food cooked at home? | |||
| |||
August 2003 [n=157] % |
May 2005 [n=165] % |
July 2007 [n=214] % | |
Outside home |
86 |
83 |
78 |
Contaminated products |
1 |
6 |
9 |
Food cooked at home |
6 |
6 |
6 |
Volunteered – other |
4 |
3 |
4 |
Unsure |
3 |
2 |
3 |
Base 2007: 29% of respondents who said that they have experienced any food related illnesses over the past two years; [n=214]. Base 2005: 22% of respondents who said that they have experienced food poisoning over the past two years; [n=165]. Base 2003: 21% of respondents who said that they have experienced food poisoning over the past two years; [n=157]. | |||
As in previous years, only around one in three respondents said that they had reported their food related illness to anyone, equating to around one in eleven of all respondents saying that they had experienced food related audience and reported it.
INCIDENCE OF FOOD RELATED ILLNESS REPORTED [Those who said that they have experienced any food related illnesses over the past two years AND declared that their most recent experience was caused by food purchased outside their home OR from contaminated products were asked:] Did you report your food related illness to anyone? | |||
| |||
August 2003 [n=136] % |
May 2005 [n=147] % |
July 2007 [n=185] % | |
Yes |
31 |
36 |
32 |
No |
68 |
66 |
67 |
Unsure |
1 |
- |
1 |
Base 2007: 25% of respondents who said that they have experienced a food related illness over the past two years AND declared that their most recent experience was caused by food purchased outside their home OR from contaminated products; [n=185]. Base 2005: 20% of respondents who said that they have experienced food poisoning over the past two years AND declared that their most recent experience was caused by food purchased outside their home OR from contaminated products; [n=147]. Base 2003: 18% of respondents who said that they have experienced food poisoning over the past two years AND declared that their most recent experience was caused by food purchased outside their home OR from contaminated products; [n=136]. | |||
58% of the small sub sample who said that they had reported food related illness over the last two years said that they had done so to their doctor. 21% stated that they had informed the food outlet, while 17% mentioned the Ministry of Heath.
REPORTED FOOD RELATED ILLNESS TO: [Those who said that they have experienced any food related illnesses over the past two years AND declared that their most recent experience was caused by food purchased outside their home OR from contaminated products AND stated that they had reported their case of food related illness were asked:] Who did you report your food related illness to? | |
July 2007 % | |
DOCTOR |
57.9 |
THE FOOD OUTLET THAT PROVIDED THE FOOD |
21.3 |
MINISTRY OF HEALTH |
16.7 |
CITY COUNCIL |
8.4 |
THE MANUFACTURER OF THE FOOD |
6.8 |
FRIENDS |
5.2 |
FOOD INSPECTOR HEALTH LINE (IN PHONE BOOK) |
2.5 |
NEW ZEALAND FOOD SAFETY AUTHORITY |
2 |
Unsure |
1.4 |
Base: 32% of respondents who said that they have experienced a food related illness over the past two years AND declared that their most recent experience was caused by food purchased outside their home OR from contaminated products AND stated that they had reported their case of food related illness; [n=60] Multiple response | |
48% of New Zealanders claimed to have observed poor food safety procedures over the last two years, unchanged since 2005.
OBSERVED POOR FOOD SAFETY PRACTICES Have you observed any poor food safety practices in food outlets over past two years? | |||
| |||
August 2003 % |
May 2005 % |
July 2007 % | |
Yes |
50 |
48 |
48 |
No |
49 |
50 |
50 |
Unsure |
1 |
2 |
2 |
Those who had observed poor food safety practices were asked what they had seen. As in 2005, respondents were most likely to mention problems with cleanliness, food handlers wearing gloves, food storage/ preparation and general hygiene. We observed a decrease in the number mentioning the specific food hygiene level of gloves, but an increase in the number mentioning hygiene as a general issue.
POOR FOOD SAFETY PRACTICES [Respondents who declared that they had observed poor food safety practices were asked:] What did you observe? | ||
May 2005 %* |
July 2007 % | |
CLEANLINESS |
32.1 |
32.5 |
GLOVES |
35.1 |
28 |
FOOD STORAGE AND PREPARATION |
24.7 |
23 |
POOR HYGIENE |
14.3 |
20.7 |
PROTECTION OF FOOD |
28.2 |
20.4 |
FOOD HANDLING |
16.6 |
19.6 |
FOOD NOT FRESH/ USE BY DATES |
16.6 |
9.8 |
FOOD HANDLERS HAIR/ CLOTHING |
11.6 |
7.8 |
BAD KITCHEN PRACTICES |
1.4 |
1.2 |
*Note that the 2005 results have been recoded for several categories to match with verbatim responses from 2007 (i.e. categories were separated or combined). Multiple response | ||
POOR FOOD SAFETY PRACTICES [Respondents who declared that they had observed poor food safety practices were asked:] What did you observe? | |
July 2007 % | |
CLEANLINESS General lack of Hygiene and Cleanliness (23.3%), Maggots, Cockroaches, fleas, rats, mice, insects (4.1%), Dirty floors, walls (2.2%), Dirty surfaces (1.1%), Dirty cups, plates, utensils (0.9%), Birds in the shop (sparrows) (0.4%), Unidentified bad smells (0.3%), Rubbish everywhere (0.2%) |
32.5 |
GLOVES No gloves worn (20.2%), Hands used to handle both food and money (5.2%), Gloves worn, but used to handle both food and money (2.6%) |
28.0 |
FOOD STORAGE AND PREPARATION Inadequate refrigeration/ storage (9.1%), Cross-contamination (6.5%), Food not cooked properly (4.7%), Inadequate heating up of food (1.2%), Cutting table/ boards not sanitised/ risk of cross-contamination (0.6%) |
22.1 |
POOR HYGIENE Not washing hands (9.7%), Handlers wiping nose/ blowing nose/ touching nose/ runny nose (5.2%), Handlers sneezing and coughing on food (3.8%), handlers licking fingers (0.9%), Handlers spitting near food (0.3%), Food handler was sick/ sick people should not be around food (0.5%), Lack of training around food hygiene practices (0.3%), Handlers scratching (0.2%) |
20.9 |
PROTECTION OF FOOD Flies on food (9.8%), Generally unprotected, uncovered food (6.1%), Hair in food (1.7%), Open buffets: cross-contamination (1%), Display food kept to long and sold (0.8%), Consumers handle food in supermarket (0.7%), Unsupervised children get at food and pollute it (0.5%) |
20.6 |
FOOD HANDLING General unsafe handling of food (9.8%), Other foreign bodies in food (2.4%), Food dropped on floor then picked up and used again (1.2%), Cleaning sprays used near food (1%), Double use of utensils/ double use of gloves (2.3%), Utensils not used (1.3%), Utensils left on unclean bench (0.3%), Clothes dropped on floor then used to wipe table/ dirty cloths (0.8%), Dropping food on the floor and then serving it (0.5%) |
19.6 |
FOOD NOT FRESH/ USE BY DATES Stock not rotated/ expired food sold (6.5%), Old food left in warming oven/ display (3%), Food not fresh (0.9%), Pre-cooked food sold past use-by date (0.3%) |
10.7 |
FOOD HANDLERS HAIR/ CLOTHING Hair not tied back/ should wear hat/ hairnet (6.8%), Grubby clothing/ handler wipes hands on/ handler looks dirty (1%) |
7.8 |
BAD KITCHEN PRACTICES Smoking in the kitchen/ around food/ close to food (1.2%) |
1.2 |
POOR FOOD SAFETY PRACTICES (Cont.) [Respondents who declared that they had observed poor food safety practices were asked:] What did you observe? | |
July 2007 % | |
I GOT FOOD POISONING |
0.8 |
LACK OF VISIBLE RATINGS/ NO RATINGS |
0.6 |
Other/ Don’t know |
1.8 |
|
Base: 48% of respondents who declared that they had observed poor food safety practices; [n=362] Multiple response | |
New Zealand Food Safety Authority
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NEW ZEALAND
Phone: +64 4 894 2500
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