Eurasian consumers' food safety beliefs and trust issues in the age of COVID ‐19: evidence from an online survey in 15 countries

Eurasian consumers' food safety beliefs and trust issues in the age of COVID ‐19: evidence from an online survey in 15 countries Igor Tomasevic Faculty of Agriculture University of Belgrade Belgrade Serbia German Institute of Food Technologies (DIL) Quakenbrück Germany Department of Dairy Technology and Functional Foods, Faculty of Food Sciences and Biotechnology University of Life Sciences in Lublin Lublin Poland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1611-2264 Garegin Hambardzumyan Armenian National Agrarian University Yerevan Armenia Gayane Marmaryan Armenian National Agrarian University Yerevan Armenia Aleksandra Nikolic Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences University of Sarajevo Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina Alen Mujcinovic Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences University of Sarajevo Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina Weizheng Sun School of Food Science and Engineering South China University of Technology Guangzhou China https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5769-4275 Xiao‐Chen Liu School of Food Science and Engineering South China University of Technology Guangzhou China Danijela Bursać Kovačević Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology University of Zagreb Zagreb Croatia Anica Bebek Markovinović Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology University of Zagreb Zagreb Croatia Nino Terjung German Institute of Food Technologies (DIL) Quakenbrück Germany Volker Heinz German Institute of Food Technologies (DIL) Quakenbrück Germany Maria Papageorgiou Department of Food Science and Technology International Hellenic University Thessaloniki Greece Adriana Skendi Department of Food Science and Technology International Hellenic University Thessaloniki Greece Gunjan Goel Department of Microbiology Central University of Haryana Mahendragarh India https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8761-929X Mamta Raghav Department of Life Sciences RPS Degree College Mahendragarh India Antonella Dalle Zotte Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health University of Padova Padova Italy Dimitar Nakov Faculty of Agriculture "Goce Delcev" University in Stip Shtip Republic of North Macedonia Faculty of Medical Sciences "Goce Delcev" University in Stip Shtip Republic of North Macedonia Valentina Velkoska Faculty of Agriculture "Goce Delcev" University in Stip Shtip Republic of North Macedonia Bartosz G. Sołowiej Department of Dairy Technology and Functional Foods, Faculty of Food Sciences and Biotechnology University of Life Sciences in Lublin Lublin Poland Anastasia A. Semenova V. M. Gorbatov Federal Research Center for Food Systems Moscow Russia Oksana A. Kuznetsova V. M. Gorbatov Federal Research Center for Food Systems Moscow Russia Miroslav Krocko Department of Technology and Quality of Animal Products, Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Sciences Institute of Food Sciences, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra Nitra Slovakia Viera Duckova Department of Technology and Quality of Animal Products, Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Sciences Institute of Food Sciences, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra Nitra Slovakia Jose M. Lorenzo Centro Tecnológico de la Carne de Galicia Ourense Spain https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7725-9294 Noemi Echegaray Centro Tecnológico de la Carne de Galicia Ourense Spain https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7393-2955 Emel Oz Department of Food Engineering, Agriculture Faculty Atatürk University Erzurum Türkiye https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3766-2713 Fatih Oz Department of Food Engineering, Agriculture Faculty Atatürk University Erzurum Türkiye https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5300-7519 Ilija Djekic Faculty of Agriculture University of Belgrade Belgrade Serbia Abstract BACKGROUND This investigation provides an important insight into Eurasian consumers' food safety beliefs and trust issues influenced by the COVID‐19 pandemic. An online survey was conducted in 15 European and Asian countries involving more than 4000 consumers. RESULTS It has confirmed that different socioeconomic characteristics, cultural aspects and education levels shape food safety perceptions within Eurasian countries. The COVID‐19 pandemic influenced their beliefs and trust in food safety, which is relatively low on average. However, it is significantly higher for European consumers (especially European Union ones) compared to their Asian counterparts. Both Asian and European respondents agreed that food fraud and climate changes represent a food safety issue. However, European consumers were less concerned regarding the food safety of genetically modified foods and meat and dairy analogs/hybrids. Asian consumers were, to a greater extent, worried about the risk of getting COVID‐19 from food, restaurants, food retail establishments and home food deliveries. CONCLUSION Eurasian consumers have put their greatest extent of trust, when food safety assurance is concerned, into food scientists and food producers holding a food safety certificate. Broadly, they are uncertain to what extent their federal governments and food inspectors are competent, able and efficient in ensuring food safety. Higher education of Eurasian consumers was followed by increased food safety confidence in all parts of the food chain. © 2023 The Authors. 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Consumer perception and acceptance towards edible insects in Greece

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EPA-1268 - Mental health disorders in emergency departments of general hospital in east european countries

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