Evaluation of red meat consumption in terms of food safety in Turkey

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate consumer preferences regarding consumption of red meat and to examine theknowledge levels of consumers about food safety and to establish the relationship between food safety and consumer preferencesconsidering consumers’ socioeconomic situation and purchasing and consuming behaviors related to red meat products. For thisaim, interviews with 2690 households in 12 provincial centers in Turkey were conducted. Processed red meat consumption, ages, sex,education level, number of total people in the households, incomes, trust degrees in stages from production to consumption of redmeat, and the effect of red meat purchase area variables of the consumers were examined. The opinions of consumers on whether theyfind red meat products reliable or not were examined using chi-square automatic interaction detector (CHAID) analysis. In conclusion,food safety was evaluated individually in 5 different stages: production, processing, packaging, marketing, and storage of these productsat home. The stages that are least trusted by consumers are food safety of processed red meats, meat processing locations, productionplants, packaging units, sales areas, and meat preservation at home, in descending order. One of the most important results is thatconsumers who do not consume processed red meat products such as sausage, salami, and pastrami do not see red meat productionplaces as reliable. Furthermore, female consumers (53.1%) in nuclear families (3–5 persons), especially those with children under 11years of age, think that the processing stages make red meat unreliable for consumption.