Attitudes and behavior of adults about food safety during the COVID-19 pandemic
Sevtap Küçükcankurtaran1, Yahya Özdoğan2
1Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Samsun, Turkey
2Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ankara, Turkey
Keywords: Communication methods, COVID-19, food safety, social distancing
Abstract
Objectives: Ensuring food security is of global importance to prevent human exposure during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. This study aimed to evaluate the adult attitudes and behaviors regarding food safety during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Materials and methods: The sample of the study consisted of 660 individuals (131 males, 529 females; median age: 25 [IQR 13.0]; range, 20 to 65 years) living in Turkey. The disinfection procedures that individuals apply to raw vegetables and fruits, their behavior during shopping, and their access to information regarding food safety during the COVID-19 pandemic were questioned. The data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test and the chi-square test.
Results: In the disinfection of foods, adults preferred vinegar (95.6%) the most. The relationship between sex and disinfection of raw vegetables and fruits was found to be statistically significant (p<0.05). It was determined that 98.8% of the participants paid attention to social distancing during shopping, 99.2% wore masks, and information regarding food safety was accessed more via social media (57.3%).
Conclusion: It was determined that changes occurred in individuals' attitudes and behaviors regarding food safety during the pandemic. Further studies are needed to determine the impact of changes in COVID-19 and food safety on humans.
The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.
The authors received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.