Verkerke, W.

English

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EHEC: Food safety: Overcoming emotional reactions

Wageningen Yield 

29
WELLBEING
EHEC
Food safety: Overcoming emotional reactions
By Wouter Verkerke, Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture
While the EHEC crisis of 2011 caused no 
fatalities in the Netherlands, it generated a 
veritable tsunami of negative media reports. The 
risks of microbial contamination were widely 
discussed while the disadvantages for human 
health of not consuming fresh vegetables were 
hardly given any attention. Communication 
about and trust in the product are crucial.
Food and trafﬁc safety 
are similar in the sense 
that one hundred per
cent safety can never be 
guaranteed. While the 
fresh chain has developed
a regulatory system for
restricting health risks to 
an acceptable minimum,
food safety remains loaded with emotion and the media
are eager to report on allegedly unsafe food. 
The dynamics of the EHEC crisis surprised all parties in the chain.
A thorough evaluationshowed that an exceptional combination 
of factors had led to the EHEC outbreak, which resulted in about 
50 deaths, mainly in Germany. GLOBAL-GAP certiﬁcates could not
prevent consumers from losing their faith in fresh produce for
some time, which led to the destruction of lots of healthy food 
and a prolonged period of low prices for primary producers.
Communication
Even though several independent research institutes identiﬁed
the contamination route via various indirect evidence, the damage
to the trust in fresh produce had already been done. Although 
the current certiﬁcates remain important, they were found to 
offer no protection against such a unique infestation, nor against 
the corresponding effect on consumers and the chain. The role 
of acknowledged scientiﬁc agencies that can inform consumers 
with authority via the media is very important in times of crisis 
in the ﬁeld of food safety. The chain needs such ﬁgureheads. 
Food safety is widely considered as a shared responsibility of all chain
partners. Sterile cultivation of vegetables is not generally considered
as an option to improve consumer trust. Some stakeholders consider 
communication about food safety as an opportunity for Dutch products
whereas others question the usefulness of national promotion,
arguing that consumers want safe chains rather than safe countries.
Basis for trust
In the current context, with food safety technically at its highest 
level ever, any media hype that damages trust in products can 
be a real problem. This makes the maintenance of the bond 
of conﬁdence between chain and consumer important. In this 
context, a cast-iron technical guarantee of food safety is an
absolute minimum requirement demanded for all products.
Partners in this seminar: Dutch Product Board CLM (Centre for      ,    
Agriculture and Environment) Horticoop FresQ FrugiVenta St Natuur en  , , , , .   
Milieu, RIVM, Voedingscentrum, Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture


EHEC: Food safety: Overcoming emotional reactions

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