A&T Examines How African Americans Use Food Safety Information

For Immediate Release
November 13, 2001

Greensboro, NC: African Americans are receptive to food safety messages, but might not always be consistent in adhering to them, says a researcher at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

“We discovered in an earlier study that African Americans were as aware of the importance of food safety as any other ethnic group,” said the study’s director, Dr. Kofi Adu-Nyako, an associate professor with A&T’s Department of Agribusiness, Applied Economics and Agriscience Education. “Unfortunately, they reported safe refrigeration and cooling practices in lower numbers than other ethnic groups.”

 According to Adu-Nyako, this problem is particularly acute in the South, where warmer temperatures can foster the growth of poultry pathogens, and for African Americans, who consume more chicken than other ethnic groups.

For these reasons, Adu-Nyako’s study will try to establish relationships between food safety information, and food safety attitudes and practices. It will draw on data from the earlier study. From this, he hopes to determine what sources are likely to be effective channels of food safety information for African Americans in the South.

“One of the greatest factors in foodborne illness is temperature,” said Adu-Nyako. “If people don’t keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold, they greatly enhance their exposure to foodborne pathogens. Guidelines to practices like this are available through product labels, government publications, hotlines and other sources. Consumers have to know how and why to handle food safely, before they will change their behavior to reduce foodborne illness. We want to see if currently available information is effective in conveying these messages.”

Adu-Nyako’s study was funded $20,000 from the United States Department of Agriculture. Dr. Katherine Ralston of USDA’s Economic Research Service is collaborating on the study.

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