Food Safety at Home: The Last Step of Food Supply Chain

Due to a number of food-related incidents and reported outbreaks world-wide, food quality and food safety have become a hot topic in everyday life. But risk perception research indicates that average people perceive risks differently from experts. Although outbreaks of food poisoning are usually well-documented in the media, there is very little attention paid to the outbreaks which occur as consequence of improper food handling at home. Consumers in everyday life often do not respect basic principles of food safety and as such, at the end of food supply chain, present risk for themselves and their near relatives and friends. Several studies highlighted gaps in food safety knowledge and some critical safety violations regarding food handling at home. This book reviews consumer studies and their conclusions concerning food safety knowledge and practices.