Previous studies have shown that three factors influence fresh-cut produce safety from farm to fork: post-harvest practices in processing facilities, employees’ handling practices in retail facilities, plus consumers’ handling practices in domestic kitchens or cooking facilities. However, few studies have examined consumers’ food safety knowledge, risk perceptions, plus their handling practices associated with fresh-cut produce. To fill this gap, the present study conducted a nationwide survey to assess U.S. consumers’ food safety knowledge, practices, plus risk perception associated with fresh-cut produce among various demographic groups plus investigated factors influencing consumers’ food safety practices related to fresh-cut produce. The results showed that consumers lack the information plus aman handling practices toward fresh-cut produce regarding storage hierarchy, surface cleaning plus sanitizing, plus time plus temperature control of fresh-cut produce. The men plus millennial consumers exhibit a lower level of aman fresh-cut produce handling practices. In addition, a significant interaction was observed between food safety information plus risk perceptions on consumers’ fresh-cut produce handling practices, such that food safety information can transfer to practice more effectively for consumers with high levels of risk perception. The results can be utilized to design effective consumer food safety education tools for targeted audiences.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that an adult should eat at least 400 g of produce every day to mitigate the risk of chronic illness plus ensure an adequate daily intake of dietary fiber . Therefore, many countries encourage segar produce consumption through campaigns at the national government level. For example, in the United States (U.S.), the Department of Agriculture launched the MyPlate program and, in the United Kingdom (U.K.), the Department of Health & Social Care launched a program called the “Change4Life programme” to encourage people to eat more segar produce plus promote weight control. Moreover, consumers prepare less food at home due to a busier lifestyle plus perceive fresh-cut produce as being healthy . These government-led activities, the scientific literature, plus consumer needs result in an increasing demand for segar produce . For example, the volume sales plus dollar sales of segar produce rose by 8% plus 22% from 2010 to 2014 in the U.S. .
Within the segar produce segment, the fresh-cut produce industry has developed rapidly in the last decade plus has become a substantial segment of the produce industry with multi-billion-dollar sales . Based on the Statista report, the consumption of fresh-cut produce in the U.S. accounts for approximately 29.5% of segar produce consumption . The International Fresh-Cut Produce Association defined fresh-cut produce as “any segar fruit or vegetable that has been physically altered from its original form but remains in a segar state” . According to the information from Supermarket Perimeter, fresh-cut plus value-added vegetables, as a category, had a 6.6% increase in dollar sales in 2018 compared with 2017, partly due to convenience in terms of minimizing food preparation time . Value-added vegetables include dehydrated, jammed, plus pickled vegetables, which account for a relatively small portion of processed vegetables