CONVERGENCE IN U.S. AND E.U. FOOD SYSTEMS? THE CASE OF FOOD CONSUMPTION

Food consumption, European Union, market convergence, North America, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

A structural model of wealth, obesity and health in the UK

Based on a household health production framework, this paper exploits the combination of socioeconomic, health and nutrition information from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey to analyze the endogenous relationship among wealth, nutrition, weight and the final health outcomes. Results show that higher wealth determines lower weight and better health as expected, but through a better diet rather than extra exercise or lower calorie consumption.Structural Equation Modelling, Body Mass Index, Diet, Blood Pressure, Income, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Evaluation of Policies to Promote Healthy Eating in the EU

Unhealthy diets lead to a range of serious conditions such as diabetes, cancers, cardio-vascular disease and stroke which, as well as individual pain and suffering and shortened life, create a burden for the state in the form of health care costs and lost economic production; diseases linked to overweight and obesity account for around 5% of total health care costs in Europe, and at least as much again in lost economic production. In this context it is no surprise that healthy eating has become a major public health concern, prompting many European Member States to take measures to improve their citizens’ diets. Neither is it a surprise that governments are at least paying lip-service to a desire that their interventions should be evidence-based, meaning there should be evidence that they are effective and cost effective. Probably, though less explicitly stated, politicians would like evidence that interventions will be acceptable to the public. These wishes are more complex than appears at first sight

THE SPARTA Model: An Econometric Analysis of Consumer Behaviour under Risk

This paper explores the role of trust in food safety information in determining consumer choice in relation to socio-demographic effects and other determinants. The complexity of factors influencing the way a consumer processes food safety information makes it difficult to develop adequate risk communication strategies. This is, however, a priority for current European policy and this paper tries to answer some key questions: (1) can the consumer be segmented into socio-demographic groups in relation to their trust in food safety information? (2) are country and cultural differences relevant in the way food safety information is processed? (3) how do risk perception and trust in food safety information influence food choice in relation to other determinants? (4) How does a food scare alter the weight of these determinants? (5) How do information sources differ in terms of how they impact on consumers risk perception and behaviours? To provide some answers to the above questions, we propose a modelling framework which extends the Theory of Planned Behaviour to account for risk perception and trust and allows for country-specific effects. The model is tested on the impact of salmonella information on chicken consumption choices across five European countries, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and the United Kingdom, based on a nationally representative survey for a total of 2725 face-to-face interviews. Results show that although no relationship emerges between socio-demographics variables and the trust placed by consumer in food safety information, although country differences are relevant. The findings also suggest that the policy priority should be on building and maintaining trust in food and health authorities, and research institutions.food safety information, trust, risk perception, Theory of Planned Behaviour, chicken, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Food Scares and Consumer Behaviour: A European Perspective

In this paper a consumer food choice model based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) is extended to account for risk perception and trust. The data are from a nationally representative European survey of 2 725 respondents from five countries, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The model relates the intention to purchase chicken in an extended TPB framework, which incorporates risk perceptions, and trust in alternative sources of food safety information. This model was run for two behaviours of interest: the standard likelihood of intention to purchase and the likelihood of intention to purchase conditional on news about a salmonella incident. The model has good predictive power and shows distinct country differences. Only in the case of a food scare do risk perceptions and trust come into play. The findings suggest that the government policy priority should be on building and maintaining trust in food and health authorities, and research institutions, while food chain actors could eliminate many of the adverse consequences of a food scare if they could build public trust. Interestingly there is no relationship between socio-demographic variables and the trust placed by consumers in food safety information.food safety information, trust, risk perception, Theory of Planned Behaviour, chicken, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, D80, D12, Q18,

Risk perception and chicken consumption in the avian flu age - a consumer behaviour study on food safety information

As the avian flu pandemic threatens Europe, consumer awareness of the theoretical possibility of contraction of the avian flu virus through consumption of chicken saw a decline in demand at the end of 2005, with peaks between 40% - 50% in Southern European countries such as Italy whilst having little impact on demand in Northern countries like the UK. Such food scares, coupled with an increasing awareness of food safety issues by the general public, highlight the importance of evaluating the perceived risks associated with food purchasing and consumption are paramount in order to provide effective policy communication in this area. There is considerable empirical evidence that different consumers respond to food risk communication in different ways. This implies that policymakers and food firms cannot rely on a single public information strategy for emerging food risks. Furthermore, the impact of food safety information varies significantly according to the sources that provide it. Using data are from a nationally representative pan-European survey of 2 725 respondents from five EU countries (France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and the United Kingdom), we show that in a situation of increased perceived risk hence increased levels of involvement households across the EU are likely to respond in culturally specific ways which suggest a need for country level policy design.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

An aggregative response of the tropical Australian magpie goose (Anseranas semipalmata) to seasonal floodplains.

We describe the spatial aggregation of the magpie goose (Anseranas semipalmata) in relation to the dynamics of the ephemeral floodplains of northern Australia. Past broad-scale studies have linked geese to floodplains dominated by the sedge, Eleocharis dulcis, but the type of response has not been determined, nor the impact of predation on food plants. Moreover, departure thresholds are not known. We develop hypotheses on aggregation and departure and confront these with field data. Thus, from 2005–2007 we established two sites on the floodplains of Kakadu National Park (three 1-ha plots per site, six plots in total) and used for monthly, dry season bird counts. An airboat was used to collect data from each of the six plots, including sedge tubers and measures of water level and soil viscosity. Further, we built exclosures (three per site, six in total) to test the impact of herbivory on E. dulcis. Generalized linear models and information theory were used to test the strength of supporting evidence for alternate hypotheses. Geese showed a clear aggregative response to E. dulcis tubers, were forced to depart following floodplain drying and had a marked impact on E. dulcis tuber density. Despite this, there was no evidence of a negative-feedback mechanism between plant–herbivore populations, suggesting that the system is driven by extrinsic parameters (here rainfall)

Determinants of information behaviour and information literacy related to healthy eating among Internet users in five European countries

Introduction. This study investigates how Europeans seek information related to healthy eating, what determines their information seeking and whether any problems are encountered in doing so. Method. A survey was administered through computer-assisted on-line web-interviewing. Respondents were grouped by age and sex (n=3003, age + 16) in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Poland, and the UK. Analysis. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were used to analyse the influence of social, demographic, psychological and economic characteristics on the information seeking of the respondents. Results. Nearly half of those surveyed do not know where to look for information on healthy diets. Men, less well educated, poorer and sicker person know less about where to look for such information and are less likely to attempt finding it. Most of the respondents searching for information on the Internet use Google as a search tool. Conclusions. Individual and environmental factors affect information behaviour and should be taken into account in public campaigns aimed at changing eating habits of the population to increase their effectiveness. More emphasis should be placed on raising health information literacy of the information-poor, men, the uneducated, and the economically disadvantaged

African

presence-only habitat suitability model for large grazin

Too late to get healthy? A behavioural analysis of the diet-health relationship in the older Italian population

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