Development of a methods repository for food choice behaviors and drivers at the household and individual levels

This brief identifies important constructs for assessing drivers of food choice behaviors and describes progress on the development of a repository of instruments and measures for assessing these constructs. OBJECTIVES 1. List constructs that can be assessed to understand drivers of household and individual food choice behaviors. 2. Identify instruments and measures to assess each food choice construct and organize these into a searchable repository. 3. Illustrate the use of the Food Choice Repository

Early diagnosis with alternative approaches: Innovation in lung cancer care

Cancer is one of the primary concerns of mortality throughout the world in the present day. Among different types of cancers, lung cancer (LC) is predominant (21.77% of overall cancer caused death). It is classified into two major categories: oat cell or small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The mortality due to NSCLC (~85%) is almost six times higher than the SCLC (15%). The identification of risk factors can reduce cancer burden and human fatality; however, this cannot prevent the severity of LC. In this case, the early diagnosis of LC can be an effective pathway in providing better treatment to the patients, which eventually may result in less fatality. This article offers an overview of several existing screening methods for the early diagnosis of LC. Nevertheless, these methodologies have limitations of reliability towards the diagnosis of cancer malignancy. Therefore, the prospects of different alternative approaches and their challenges to overcome this barrier for the early diagnosis of malignant tumor cells have been articulated in this article

How perspectives on food safety of vendors and consumers translate into food choice behaviors in six African and Asian countries

International audienceBackgroundConsumption of unsafe foods increases morbidity and mortality and is currently an issue, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Policy actions to ensure food safety are dominated by mitigation of biological and chemical hazards through supply-side risk management, lessening the degree to which consumer perspectives of food safety are considered.ObjectiveThis study aimed to provide an in-depth understanding, from vendor and consumer perspectives, of how food safety concerns of consumers translate into their subsequent food choice behaviors in six diverse low- and middle-income countries.MethodsSix Drivers of Food Choice projects (2016-2022) provided transcripts from 17 focus group discussions and 343 interviews in Ghana, Guinea, India, Kenya, Tanzania, and Vietnam. Qualitative thematic analysis was used to identify emerging themes important to food safety.ResultsThe analysis suggests that consumers constructed meaning about food safety through personal lived experience and social influences. Community and family members contributed knowledge about food safety. Concerns about food safety were influenced by reputations of, and relationships with, food vendors. Consumers’ mistrust of food vendors was amplified by purposeful adulteration or unsafe selling practices and new methods used to produce food. Consumers were reassured of food safety by positive relationships with vendors; meals cooked at home; implementation of policies and following of regulations; vendor adherence to environmental sanitation and food hygiene practices; cleanliness of vendors’ appearance; and vendors’ or producers’ agency to use risk mitigation strategies in production, processing, and distribution of food.ConclusionsConsumers integrated their meanings, knowledge, and concerns about food safety to achieve assurance about the safety of their foods when making food choice decisions. The success of food-safety policies hinges on consideration of consumers’ food safety concerns in their design and implementation, alongside actions to reduce risk in food supply

How perspectives on food safety of vendors and consumers translate into food choice behaviors in six African and Asian countries

International audienceBackgroundConsumption of unsafe foods increases morbidity and mortality and is currently an issue, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Policy actions to ensure food safety are dominated by mitigation of biological and chemical hazards through supply-side risk management, lessening the degree to which consumer perspectives of food safety are considered.ObjectiveThis study aimed to provide an in-depth understanding, from vendor and consumer perspectives, of how food safety concerns of consumers translate into their subsequent food choice behaviors in six diverse low- and middle-income countries.MethodsSix Drivers of Food Choice projects (2016-2022) provided transcripts from 17 focus group discussions and 343 interviews in Ghana, Guinea, India, Kenya, Tanzania, and Vietnam. Qualitative thematic analysis was used to identify emerging themes important to food safety.ResultsThe analysis suggests that consumers constructed meaning about food safety through personal lived experience and social influences. Community and family members contributed knowledge about food safety. Concerns about food safety were influenced by reputations of, and relationships with, food vendors. Consumers’ mistrust of food vendors was amplified by purposeful adulteration or unsafe selling practices and new methods used to produce food. Consumers were reassured of food safety by positive relationships with vendors; meals cooked at home; implementation of policies and following of regulations; vendor adherence to environmental sanitation and food hygiene practices; cleanliness of vendors’ appearance; and vendors’ or producers’ agency to use risk mitigation strategies in production, processing, and distribution of food.ConclusionsConsumers integrated their meanings, knowledge, and concerns about food safety to achieve assurance about the safety of their foods when making food choice decisions. The success of food-safety policies hinges on consideration of consumers’ food safety concerns in their design and implementation, alongside actions to reduce risk in food supply