Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 8 Document Number: D10313
Notes:
2 pages., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign., Researchers report consumer research indicating that the "future of U. S. citrus may hinge on consumer acceptance of genetically modified food."
USA: International Food Information Council Foundation, Washington, D.C.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 30 Document Number: D10554
Notes:
3 pages., Via website, International Food Information Council Foundation., While consumers cite broad aspects like taste, price and familiarity as the top reasons to purchase certain foods, they also crave a deeper understanding of what they are eating. Americans want to learn more about the origins of their food and its entire journey from farm to fork, according to the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation.
USA: International Food Information Council Foundation, Washington, D.C.
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 30 Document Number: D10555
Notes:
3 pages., via website, International Food Information Council Foundation., Topics like sustainability, plant-based diets and clean eating seem to permeate news about food, but it turns out they’re not just buzzwords or “flavors of the week.” IFIC Foundation’s 2019 Food and Health Survey shows genuine and growing interest in these and other trends.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 30 Document Number: D10556
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3 pages., via website, DairyBusiness., Those within the food system wring their hands about the decreasing influence of science, often blaming consumers for our “post-truth” society. But, there is another reason for the decline of trust in science, according to The Center for Food Integrity (CFI) – one less comfortable to talk about, especially for those who conduct and sponsor research.
International: Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 30 Document Number: D10565
Notes:
4 pages., via website, The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy., As Congress and the public debate the pros and cons of the United States-Mexico-Canada
Agreement (USMCA), or New NAFTA, behind the scenes and in the shadows transnational
corporations are doubling down on their plans to weaken and eliminate public protections
through a related entity, the secretive Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC). This littleknown council has the mission of promoting trade by “reducing, eliminating or preventing
unnecessary regulatory differences” between Canada and the United States. Since the RCC’s
inception, agribusiness—including factory-farmed livestock producers, the feed industry, and
chemical and pesticide manufacturers and linked transportation businesses—has had a seat at
the regulatory cooperation table. Their focus, without exception, has been advocating the
scaling back and even elimination of important safety protections in both countries. In the U.S.,
recommendations made by the RCC feed directly into regulations enacted (or eliminated) by
the Department of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration and Environmental Protection
Agency, among others
20 pages., via online journal., In a crisis situation, communication is an important asset for safeguarding the reputation of an organization. The communication strategy that is used in a crisis influences the way people perceive the crisis. While extensive research is conducted and clear communication guidelines about crisis communication are provided, current research tends to focus on a single actor in a crisis within a homogeneous stakeholder group. In this article, we analyze whether and how different groups of stakeholders frame a crisis and the extent to which they attribute responsibility for the crisis to actors. The case concerns the use of an illegal lice detergent (fipronil) in eggs in the Netherlands in the summer of 2017. Based on the analysis of Twitter data related to the case using multiple methods (network analysis, a longitudinal analysis and the annotation of a sample of tweets), this study shows that a seemingly simple case in a single sub-arena has different subgroups that use different frames and attribute different responsibilities to different stakeholders. This result implies that a reconsideration of communication strategies during and after a crisis is needed.
12 pages., via online journal., Prepackaged leafy green vegetables represent one of the fastest growing segments of the fresh-produce industry in the United States. Several steps in the production process have been mechanized to meet the downstream demand for prebagged lettuces. The growth in this market, however, has come with drawbacks, and chief among them are consumers finding wild animals in prepackaged crops. These incidents may signal an overburdened produce supply chain, but we currently lack the information needed to determine if this is a food-safety problem or food-quality concern. Here, we address this gap by reviewing online media coverage of wild vertebrates found in prepackaged produce items by customers in the United States. We discovered 40 independent incidents since 2003 with 95% having occurred during 2008–2018, suggesting that the frequency of incidents may have increased during the last decade. The minority of incidents included wild animals found in organic produce (27.5%), whereas the majority involved conventionally grown crops (72.5%). Most incidents involved amphibians (52.5%) and reptiles (22.5%), while fewer contained mammals (17.5%) and birds (7.5%). Frogs and toads made up all of the amphibian-related incidents, with more than 60% comprising small-bodied treefrogs found in various types of fresh leafy greens. At least seven incidents involved Pacific Treefrogs (Hyliola regilla) and three comprised Green Anoles (Anolis carolinensis). One lizard and nine frogs were found alive, and at least two frogs were released into non-native areas. This is the first review quantifying incidents of vertebrates found by customers in prepackaged produce, yet it remains unclear whether these occurrences indicate a food-safety crisis or a complaint against food quality. Nevertheless, wild animals can spread diseases to humans via contaminated produce, therefore we contend that industry professionals can reduce the potential health risk to their consumers and negative economic consequences to themselves through increased attention to this matter.
22 pages., via online journal., In 2015, Blue Bell Creameries had its first recall in the company’s history. Blue Bell issued a voluntary recall of all of its ice cream products after Listeria was detected and was linked to 10 illnesses that resulted in three deaths. With the theoretical framework of framing and Situational Crisis Communication Theory, the purpose of this study was to explore how this recall was presented in company press releases and news media coverage to determine what crisis communication strategies Blue Bell implemented and how the media presented that information. This study was a content analysis of 23 press releases from Blue Bell and 68 articles from newspapers. The four crisis response strategies, or postures, used as frames were deny, diminish, rebuild, and bolster. This study also examined sources identified in the articles and the topic areas they discussed. The results indicated Blue Bell’s communication efforts were properly and effectively disseminated through the news media to the public. Blue Bell used accommodative crisis communication postures to restore its reputation. Blue Bell was also commonly found as a source in the news stories, which benefitted the company when communicating about the recall to the public. This study provided an examination of crisis communication strategies and reputation management for organizations related to one specific food recall, which should encourage additional studies of these strategies in food and agricultural industries.
16 pages., via online journal., Fraudulent activities in the international honey market affect 10% of food, and cost the global food market $50 billion per annum. Although many developed countries have created regulations to combat food fraud, illegally imported honey, especially originating from China, still enters through transshipments and relabelling to mask its true origin. This honey laundering poses a health risk to consumers, as Chinese honey potentially contains illegal and unsafe antibiotics and high levels of herbicides and pesticides. We analyse whether information about the negative health impacts of laundered honey increases the proportion of consumers willing to pay a premium for local fraud‐free honey. Using a laboratory experiment, we find when consumers are given honey laundering information, their willingness to pay a premium for local fraud‐free honey increases by as much as 27 percentage points. Our findings suggest that by conveying honey laundering information and guaranteeing their honey is fraud‐free, producers can potentially increase revenues and reduce the prevalence of food fraud. Our results further show that consumers' preference for various honey characteristics and age also influence the probability of paying a premium for local honey.
16 pages., via online journal., raceability system has received wide attention in solving food safety issues, via which food information could be tracked back to producer/farmers. Consumers need to obtain this information from producers or social networks, trust in the information, and consequently assess perceived risks, especially when food scandals are exposed to the media. In this study, we introduce the social embeddedness theory to understand how consumers' social activities affect their risk perceptions on traceable food. Specifically, we investigate how risk perceptions are predicted by the interpersonal relationships, organizational level and social-level relationships. Results show that the interpersonal relationships were associated with lower levels of risk perceptions, while organizational and social relationships impacted consumer's risk perceptions at middle and higher levels, respectively. Results also show that the “ripple effect” extended to effect of risk events with negative information, however, did not exist for the group exposed to positive information. Potential food safety implications have been proposed to identify for effective risk mitigation under media coverages.
Specht, Kathrin (author), Zoll, Felix (author), Schumann, Henrike (author), Bela, Julia (author), Kachel, Julia (author), and Robischon, Marcel (author)
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2019
Published:
International
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 99 Document Number: D10870
Via online. 27 pages., Global challenges such as climate change, increasing urbanization and a lack of transparency of food chains, have led to the development of innovative urban food production approaches, such as rooftop greenhouses, vertical farms, indoor farms, aquaponics as well as production sites for edible insects or micro-algae. Those approaches are still at an early stage of development and partly unknown among the public. The aim of our study was to identify the perception of sustainability, social acceptability and ethical aspects of these new approaches and products in urban food production. We conducted 19 qualitative expert interviews and applied qualitative content analysis. Our results revealed that major perceived benefits are educational effects, revaluation of city districts, efficient resource use, exploitation of new protein sources or strengthening of local economies. Major perceived conflicts concern negative side-effects, legal constraints or high investment costs. The extracted acceptance factors deal significantly with the “unknown”. A lack of understanding of the new approaches, uncertainty about their benefits, concerns about health risks, a lack of familiarity with the food products, and ethical doubts about animal welfare represent possible barriers. We conclude that adaptation of the unsuitable regulatory framework, which discourages investors, is an important first step to foster dissemination of the urban food production approaches.
10 pages., Article # 5TOT4, via online journal., This article describes visual-based minimal-text food safety tools developed in Mandarin Chinese to educate Chinese-speaking food service workers about safe food handling practices. Ten posters and one PowerPoint presentation were developed, and their efficacy in conveying critical food safety messages was tested with Chinese-speaking food service workers in Iowa. Extension educators can use these tools for formal and informal food safety education, thereby contributing to protecting public health.
Gale, Wayne (author / Chair, American Seed Trade Association)
Format:
Commentary
Publication Date:
2019-06-18
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 114 Document Number: D11041
Notes:
The June 7, 2019 commentary by Barber in the New York Times was retrieved online at: https://seedfreedom.info/opinion-save-our-food-free-the-seed. It is filed with this document., Online via seedworld.com. 3 pages., Response to an opinion piece in the New York Times by celebrity chef Dan Barber. Barber reported on visiting a 24,000-acre farm in North Dakota and observing the large scale of operations. He concluded: "We should be alarmed by the current architects." In this commentary author Gale offered a differing view of the changes in plant breeding and the seed industry over the past 100-plus years - and what they mean for the future.
Available online at www.centmapress.org, Results indicated that both corporate firms involved in a food fraud case lacked an immediate mandate to address the legitimate stakeholders' claim. "This study adds the action perspective to stakeholder salience theory, providing practical guidelines for marketers in the food sector who face wicked contexts, attempting to achieve transparency and common goals along with their stakeholders."
Available online at www.centmapress.org, Findings of a word association task revealed that most participants associated cows, rural areas, and traditional production systems with the cue dairy farms. While purchasing their products, they paid the most attention to attributes such as health and hygiene, indicating that they pay the most attention to product quality and not production quality. Yet more than half indicated that modern production systems contradict their norms and values. Authors concluded that the current modernization efforts in Colombia do not fit to the specific culture of the country.
18 pages., via online journal, As food products marketed as “gluten-free” become increasingly popular, many consumers start to exclude sources of gluten (e.g., wheat, barley, and rye) from their diets for both medical and non-medical purposes. The grain industry is facing a growing challenge to (re)boost consumers’ confidence in the healthiness and safety of its commodities. Using 561 participants recruited from the Amazon Mechanical Turk workers’ panel, this study implemented a 2 (pretzels vs. potato chips) * 2 (positive- vs. negative- frame) * 2 (wheat image vs. no wheat image) experiment to examine the effects of gluten-free labels on consumers’ perceived healthiness and safety of wheat, perceived benefits of labeled products, and their evaluation of the shown labels. Results showed that consumers evaluate the gluten-free labels most positively when they appear on products that could have contained gluten. For products that are naturally gluten-free, adding a gluten-free label only decreased consumers’ confidence in such labels. The presence of gluten-free labels increased consumers’ perceived benefits of the labeled products when they do not contain any misleading information (e.g., image of a wheat head). However, some gluten-free labels could have negative impacts on consumers’ perceptions of the healthiness and safety of wheat. Overall, food producers and marketers might have undervalued consumers’ literacy and overestimated their susceptibility to marketing strategies. We discussed the implications for food marketers, regulators, and communicators.
14 pages., Online via UI electronic subscription., Examines the impact of gain and loss message framing and issue involvement elicitation on consumer willingness to pay for two food safety enhancing technologies: cattle vaccines against E. coli and direct-fed microbials. Results showed strong consumer preference and willingness to pay for the technologies and consumer welfare gains from their introduction.
9 pages., Online via UI electronic subscription, Researchers analyzed the effectiveness of the European Union Pledge, a self-regulation initiative of leading food companies at the European level, in restricting television advertising of food and drink products high in fat, sugar or salt to children. Results indicated that effectiveness was limited by the focus on children's program and the relatively lenient nutritional criteria agreed to by signatory companies.
1 page., Via IFAS Extension, University of Florida, These flyers, written by Natalie Seymour, Mary Yavelak, Candice Christian, and Ben Chapman (NC State University Extension), provide quick, digestible information regarding prevention of COVID-19 and procedures for food service, grocery stores, and other food-related businesses. This flyer in particular provides information about food safety in relation to COVID-19. Published by the UF/IFAS Food Science and Human Nutrition Department.
1 page., Via IFAS Extension, University of Florida, These flyers, written by Natalie Seymour, Mary Yavelak, Candice Christian, and Ben Chapman (NC State University Extension), provide quick, digestible information regarding prevention of COVID-19 and procedures for food service, grocery stores, and other food-related businesses. This flyer in particular provides guidance regarding takeout and COVID-19. Published by the UF/IFAS Food Science and Human Nutrition Department.
20 pages., Online via UI e-subscription, This article centered on the representation of food additives as a matter of key importance to the public's conceptualization of them. Findings from a systematic qualitative study of the magazines of two Belgian consumer organizations revealed that additives were seen as providing no benefits to consumers, for they could be used to reduce the quality of both the ingredients and the production process. They were perceived as a means of deceiving the public, with portrayal of consumers as powerless in the struggle for control over the types and amounts of additives they ingested. In turn, the limitations were seen as a failure of government and scientific institutions to provide the necessary protection.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 157 Document Number: D11640
Notes:
4 pages., Online from G&S Business Communications, New York City, New York. 4 pages., "A new consumer intelligence survey fielded by G&S Communications found Americans are changing their consumption behaviors and their perceptions of the food supply chain as a direct result of the coronavirus. From food safety and quality to availability and affordability, people are beginning to think differently about where their food comes from and the significance of the nation's farming infrastructure."
20 pages., Via online from the University of Illinois website., Authors' review provided an overview of the data sources, computational methods, and applications of text data in the food industry. Applications of text data analysis were illustrated with respect to food safety and food fraud surveillance, dietary pattern characterization, consumer-opinion mining, new-product development, food knowledge discovery, food supply-chain management, and online food systems.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 201 Document Number: D11754
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Online from AgriMarketing Weekly. 3 pages, Highlights from a national survey representing all age groups of U.S. consumers. Nearly one-half said they were concerned or extremely concerned about the safety and reliability of the food chain as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Online from publisher. 3 pages., Highlights and cited reactions to a 10-year plan, "New Era for Smarter Food Safety," from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Four key elements: tech-enabled traceability, smarter tools and approaches for prevention and outbreak response, new business models (such as e-commerce) and retail food modernization, and food safety culture.
18 pages, via online journal, Consumers are concerned about the quality and safety of their food at all times during the food supply chain, but sensationalized media coverage, lack of knowledge, and recent recalls have made it difficult for consumers to trust the agricultural industry. Because trust drives risk perceptions and acceptance, it is important for agricultural communicators to understand how personal characteristics influence trust in the food supply chain. To fulfill the purpose of this study, a national quota sample of 847 responses to an online questionnaire were collected in March 2019. The results indicated respondents held a moderate level of trust toward production agriculture, food processing, food retail, and food safety regulation, with the greatest level of trust assigned to production agriculture. Trust in these sectors of the food supply chain were also positively correlated to one another. Regression models for trust in each agricultural sector were significant but only accounted for 9% of the variance in the dependent variable at most. Direct engagement in agriculture was a positive predictor in trust across all four areas, and use of social media was a negative predictor for trust. Income and gender were also found to be predictors of trust in production agriculture, food processing, food retail, and food safety regulation. The findings from this study can be used to guide future communication to increase the level of trust in the food supply chain, which would also increase consumers’ purchasing intent.
Online via publisher website., This paper proposes a food safety traceability system based on the blockchain and the EPC Information Services and develops a prototype system.
Online from publisher website. 5 pages., Describes a new Food Trust Consortium , run by IBM, using blockchain technologies to improve food traceability.
20 Pages, Springer Online, Aspirations to farm ‘better’ may fall short in practice due to constraints outside of farmers’ control. Yet farmers face proliferating pressures to adopt practices that align with various societal visions of better agriculture. What happens when the accumulation of external pressures overwhelms farm management capacity? Or, worse, when different visions of better agriculture pull farmers toward conflicting management paradigms? This article addresses these questions by comparing the institutional manifestations of two distinct societal obligations placed on California fruit and vegetable farmers: to practice sustainable agriculture and to ensure food safety. Drawing on the concept of constrained choice, I define and utilize a framework for comparison comprising five types of institutions that shape farm management decisions: rules and standards, market and supply chain forces, legal liability, social networks and norms, and scientific knowledge and available technologies. Several insights emerge. One, farmers are expected to meet multiple societal obligations concurrently; when facing a “right-versus-right” choice, farmers are likely to favor the more feasible course within structural constraints. Second, many institutions are designed to pursue narrow or siloed objectives; policy interventions that aim to shift farming practice should thus anticipate and address potential conflicts among institutions with diverging aspirations. Third, farms operating at different scales may face distinct institutional drivers in some cases, but not others, due to differential preferences for universal versus place-specific policies. These insights suggest that policy interventions should engage not just farmers, but also the intersecting institutions that drive or constrain their farm management choices. As my framework demonstrates, complementing the concept of constrained choice with insights from institutional theory can more precisely reveal the dimensions and mechanisms that bound farmer agency and shape farm management paradigms. Improved understanding of these structures, I suggest, may lead to novel opportunities to transform agriculture through institutional designs that empower, rather than constrain, farmer choice.
Online from publication. 5 pages., Summary of a survey among U.S. consumers, performed by Aimpoint Research for The Packer. Findings suggested that the lack of a concrete definition of sustainability points to the need to earn consumers' trust regarding the food industry.
Online from publications. 3 pages., Report of thoughts about dealing with foodservice staffing and labor challenges from the chief operating officer of DNO Produce, Columbus, Ohio.
Online from publication. 1 page., Author provides selected excerpts of six comments in response to the Food and Drug Administration's proposed rule on its designation of high-risk foods for tracing.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D11945
Notes:
From Agri-Pulse via online from AgriMarketing Weekly. 1 page., "Key voices from new and innovative meat technology industries are calling for mandatory labeling of cell-based meat and for more sector feedback before those labels are developed."
