Current Issue

Recently, the rapid economic growth and rising income levels in South Korea have gradually changed food consumption patterns. Korean consumers have had more opportunities to eat out, which has been driven by recent demographic and socio-economic changes, including increases in female social activities, single-person households, and busy lifestyles (Korea Rural Economic Institute 2018). In addition, imported agricultural and fishery products and processed foods have been distributed in large quantities, along with an increase in international trade (Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs 2011a). Nowadays, a wide variety of food is more accessible to consumers, as they purchase their food through online channels (Anckar B et al 2002). As food sources have diversified, consumers have become more anxious about their food environment. Consumers tend to be anxious about the severity of possible consequences, rather than the probability of their occurrence when exposed to a potential food hazard in the food environment (Yeung RM & Morris J 2001). A recent study reported that half of the adults in Korea were interested in food safety issues, and about 61% said they were willing to pay higher prices for safe foods (Korea Rural Economic Institute 2019).

Consumers’ anxiety about the food environment is mostly related to food safety. Food safety embraces anything in the processing, preparation or handling of food to ensure that it is safe to eat (Griffith CJ 2006). A previous study on food safety defined consumers’ safety anxiety as a social and psychological interpretation of food risk (Yeung RM & Morris J 2001). Another study on food safety defined such anxiety as the risk perception of consumers throughout the entire process from food production to consumption (Lee Y & Lee S 2014). It was also reported that safety anxiety is not momentary but a cumulative feeling of subjective concern that consumers experience (Sah J & Yeo J 2014). When consumers purchase or eat food, they can be anxious about the safety of food environment, because uncertain and uncontrollable food hazards in their food environment could harm their health (Lee SS 2016). This safety anxiety can increase, especially when consumers lack knowledge about the food (Kim E 2008).

Consumers’ safety anxiety about the food environment has been directly affected by food-related issues. A study on food safety reported that Korean consumers are anxious about harmful food items from overseas, such as fishery products contaminated with Japanese radioactive materials and US beef with mad cow disease (The Office for Government Policy Coordination 2017). The study also stated that recent domestic food-related incidents, such as contamination of egg with fipronil and mass food poisoning in school lunches, have further raised such anxiety. Such anxiety has spread quickly among consumers since social networking services (SNSs) have become a major means of communication through the rapid development of information and communications technology (Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs 2015).

Earlier studies focused on consumers’ anxiety about specific food hazards in the food environment (Yeung RM & Morris J 2001; Choe JS et al 2005; Jun SM 2014; Sah J & Yeo J 2014). According to the Food Sanitation Act of Korea (Korean Law Information Center 2020), food hazards are ‘hazards present in food, food additives, appliances, containers or packages that are feared to harm the health of the human body’. A study on food safety risk stated that food hazards can be classified into sources of risk, namely, microbiological, chemical, or technological hazards (Yeung RM & Morris J 2001). A study on Korean adults reported that the level of consumers’ safety anxiety about genetically-modified foods, food additives, and mad cow disease differs according to socio-demographic variables (Sah J & Yeo J 2014). In that study, high levels of anxiety about genetically-modified foods and food additives appeared in older, married, and housewife groups, whereas high levels of anxiety about mad cow disease appeared in those with liberal political tendencies. Another study on Korean adults reported that female or highly educated consumers were more likely to have higher levels of anxiety compared with males or those who were less educated (Jun SM 2014). Housewives generally tend to express greater concern about food hazards in their food environment. In particular, housewives with young children were shown to have high levels of anxiety (Choe JS et al 2005; Jun SM 2014).

Recently, consumers have become more interested in the health of themselves and their families. They have also become more concerned about their food environment, and their safety anxiety about that food environment has increased. According to Becker M et al (1977), health concern or health consciousness is a criterion for assessing readiness to undertake health-related actions. Consumers with a high level of health concern tend to be worried about their health and are often consciously healthy (Plank RE & Gould SJ 1990; Newsom JT et al 2005). Therefore, consumers with a high level of health concern can be more anxious about the food environment than those with a low level of health concern.

A study on food safety reported that Korean consumers are not anxious as they used to be, but they show relatively high levels of anxiety about certain foods, such as imported foods and street foods sold near schools (The Office for Government Policy Coordination 2017). A study on housewives reported a high level of anxiety about processed foods and fast foods but a relatively low level of anxiety about agricultural products (Lee JY & Kim KD 2009). A study investigating the differences in consumers’ safety anxiety about foods from five cooking places found that the level of anxiety about home-cooked foods was the lowest, while the level of anxiety about delivery and take-out foods was the highest (Jin H et al 2014). Although the level of consumers’ safety anxiety varies depending on the food source, there has been a relative lack of research on analyzing differences in anxiety about various food sources in consideration of the overall food environment in Korea. It is necessary to recognize and manage food source groups associated with relatively high levels of safety anxiety in the overall food environment. In addition, it is important to understand what factors are related to safety anxiety about the food environment.

Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the level of consumers’ safety anxiety about the food environment across six food source groups, and related factors in Korea. In particular, we examined the differences in consumers’ safety anxiety levels according to six food source groups in the current food environment. In addition, we identified consumer characteristics related to safety anxiety about the food environment.

In this study, the most important factor considered in food purchases was taste, followed by quality and safety. The result was inconsistent with a previous study having reported not taste but safety as the most important factor (Kim HA & Jung HY 2018). This inconsistency seems to be due to the different demographic composition of the survey respondents between these two studies; the proportion of respondents in their 20s in our study was much higher than that in the previous one (38.9% vs. 10.3%). The respondents in their 20s in the present study predominantly considered taste as the most important factor.

Meanwhile, in the present study safety was the most important factor among certain consumer groups: consumers who were in their 40s and 50s, those with a high school level education or lower, those with a monthly household income of 4.5∼6.5 million won, those who were full-time housewives, those who were married, or those whose youngest child was over 12 years of age. There has been no study that investigated the most important factors considered in food purchases according to other socio-demographic characteristics except for gender. Nevertheless, another study examining consumers’ perception of food safety reported that the primarily important factors when purchasing meat or fishery products were the place of origin and expiration dates, which were closely related to safety in the food environment (Kim H & Kim M 2011). Thus, more studies are needed to explore important factors considered in food purchases according to socio-demographic characteristics and food groups all together.

Among the six food source groups, the group associated with the highest level of anxiety was imported agricultural and fishery products, followed by foods from commercial and institutional foodservice, processed and health functional foods, foods from retailers, agricultural and fishery products, and environmentally friendly foods. A previous study on safety anxiety also reported that the level of anxiety about imported agricultural and fishery products was the highest (Jun SM 2014).

In this study, the level of anxiety about imported fishery products was highest for imported agricultural and fishery products. These results support a previous consumer safety sentiment index study that reported that the food items associated with the highest level of consumer anxiety are imported fishery products (Korea Consumer Agency 2014). According to a study on risk perception toward Japanese fishery products, consumers concerned about the safety of imported fishery products showed a high level of anxiety about the foods and were reluctant to purchase them (Joo J & You MS 2016).

In the present study, the reasons for consumers’ anxiety about imported agricultural and fishery products differed among food items. Consumers were anxious about imported fishery products and meats mainly because they did not trust the ingredients, while they were anxious about imported fruits mainly because they did not trust the sellers. This is probably because consumers were likely to be concerned about the pesticides used for preservation and long-term transportation for imported fruits such as oranges and grapes (Yoon Y & Kim K 2013). Previous studies on food hazards (Choe JS et al 2005; Lee JY & Kim KD 2009; Kim H & Kim M 2011) found that consumers showed a high level of anxiety about pesticide residues among various food hazards. One study conducted on housewives reported that the highest level of anxiety among food hazards was toward residual pesticides, followed by food additives and environmental hormones (Choe JS et al 2005). However, about 96% of the residual pesticides in fruits and vegetables can be removed by peeling off the skin, and more than 80% can be removed by cleaning (Ministry of Food and Drug Safety 2015). Consumers showed a high level of anxiety about residual pesticides because they lacked information and knowledge about residual pesticides (Yoon Y & Kim K 2015). Therefore, it is necessary to provide accurate information to consumers to reduce such unnecessary anxiety.

Among the foods from commercial and institutional foodservice, the item associated with the highest level of anxiety was street foods, followed by delivery foods and fast foods. The level of anxiety about fast food was similar to that about imported agricultural and fishery products. These results are similar to those from the consumer safety sentiment index study (Korea Consumer Agency 2014). In the present study, the main reason for anxiety about foods from commercial and institutional foodservice was distrust of the ingredients. This finding differed slightly from a study on consumers’ knowledge of food hazards (The Office for Government Policy Coordination 2016). In that study, consumers were found to be anxious about foods from commercial foodservice because of fear that the foods might have been cooked under unsanitary conditions, while they were anxious about school meals because they did not trust the food suppliers or food managers.

Among the processed and health functional foods, the item associated with the highest level of anxiety was diet foods, followed by health functional foods, home meal replacements, refrigerated processed foods, and frozen processed foods. This finding was similar to the results of the consumer safety sentiment index study (Korea Consumer Agency 2009), which reported that diet foods and health functional foods were associated with the highest levels of consumer anxiety. The main reason for anxiety about processed and health functional foods was distrust of the ingredients. Diet foods are not defined by law as foods, rather “diet foods” is used as a generic term for weight control formulas (Ministry of Food and Drug Safety 2020b). As the demand for diet foods has increased recently, the level of consumers’ safety anxiety about diet foods has also increased. According to the Functional Health Foods Act (Korean Law Information Center 2019), health functional foods are ‘foods made from ingredients that are useful to the human body’. As consumers’ health concerns have increased recently, the demand for health functional foods has increased, and the level of anxiety about health functional foods has also increased.

Agricultural and fishery products were associated with the second-highest level of consumer anxiety among the six food source groups. One study on the safety sentiment index reported that only domestic agricultural products were recognized as safe foods for consumers (Korea Consumer Agency 2014). Consumers were anxious about the agricultural and fishery products mainly because of distrust of the producers, while consumers were anxious about other food source groups mainly because of distrust of the ingredients.

In this study, gender was associated with consumers’ safety anxiety about the food environment. Specifically, women were more likely to be anxious about the food environment than men. This supports previous findings (Korea Consumer Agency 2009; Kim SU et al 2012; Jun SM 2014; Korea Consumer Agency 2014) in which women showed a higher level of anxiety than men. Women generally act as nurturers or care providers at home and still view family health and safety as their primary responsibility (Davidson DJ & Freudenburg WR 1996; Kim SU et al 2012). Therefore, their levels of anxiety about the food environment are likely to be higher than those of men. A study on housewives reported that women with young children, such as infants and elementary school students, had a level of anxiety that was about twice as high as that in women without young children (Choe JS et al 2005). This was probably because they were concerned about the health of their young children, who are likely to be vulnerable to changes in the food environment and to have low immunity to food hazards.

Another factor found related to consumers’ safety anxiety was the age of the respondent’s youngest child. In this study, consumers whose youngest child was 12 years or younger were more likely to be anxious than those whose youngest child was over 12 years of age. This result supports previous studies reporting that consumers with young children showed a high level of anxiety about food safety in the food environment (Davidson DJ & Freudenburg WR 1996; Sah J & Yeo J 2014). Further, one of the possible explanations for the age of the youngest child being associated with consumers’ safety anxiety in this study is the parents’ age. In this study, compared with other age groups, consumers in their 30s and 40s showed a relatively higher level of anxiety. This finding is similar to the results of a study on food safety conducted by The Office for Government Policy Coordination (2017). This is probably because the middle-aged consumers in their 30s or 40s were more likely to be parents with young children than other age groups.

The present study also identified a relationship between the level of health concern and consumers’ safety anxiety about the food environment. The results showed that consumers with a high level of health concern were likely to be more anxious about the food environment than those with a low level of health concern. One study on American adults reported that consumers with a high level of health concern were more likely to try to improve their health and quality of life (Newsom JT et al 2005). Recently, Korean consumers have become more concerned about their health than before. Consumers with a higher level of health concern tend to value food safety when choosing their food and are more concerned about risk factors (Kim H et al 2015). Therefore, consumers tend to be more sensitive to food hazards and are more anxious about the food environment. Studies on the relationship between health concern and environmentally friendly behavior reported that consumers with a high level of health concern try to relieve their anxiety by consuming safe and environmentally-friendly agricultural products (Magnusson MK et al 2008; Lee S et al 2011).

Meanwhile, studies have reported that the level of anxiety differs according to characteristics of consumers other than gender, age of the youngest child, and level of health concern (Choe JS et al 2005; Korea Consumer Agency 2009). The Korea Consumer Agency stated that married consumers are more anxious about their food environment than single consumers (Korea Consumer Agency 2009). One study on housewives showed that as the education level was higher, the level of anxiety was higher (Choe JS et al 2005). Additionally, a study on specific food hazards reported that older or married consumers or housewives showed high levels of anxiety about genetically modified foods and food additives (Sah J & Yeo J 2014). In order to decrease the level of consumers’ safety anxiety, it is necessary to identify the characteristics of consumer groups that show different levels of anxiety and prioritize those with high levels of anxiety.

There were some limitations in this study. This study used a single-item scale to measure the level of consumers’ safety anxiety about the food environment. Consumers’ anxiety about the food environment, which is continuously changing and uncertain, is subjective and is easily affected by psychological and social factors (Kim H et al 2015). Therefore, it would be more effective to use a multiple-item scale rather than a single-item scale to measure the level of anxiety about the food environment. Another limitation is related to the characteristics of the survey respondents. Several studies have reported that high-educated consumers show a higher level of anxiety than low-educated consumers (Choe JS et al 2005; Kim SU et al 2012; Jun SM 2014). In this study, however, about 84% of respondents were college students, graduates, or had a higher degree. Such characteristics of respondents would have been reflected in the results.

In this study, we did not consider consumers’ purchase experiences when analyzing the level of consumers’ safety anxiety. It may be important to manage consumers’ safety anxiety about food items that are frequently purchased rather than items that are purchased less frequently. Therefore, it is suggested that future studies should consider consumers’ purchase experiences for each food item when investigating the level of safety anxiety. For example, food items could be classified into four groups: a group with a high purchase frequency and a high level of anxiety, a group with high purchase frequency and a low level of anxiety, a group with a low purchase frequency and a high level of anxiety, and a group with a low purchase frequency and a low level of anxiety. By considering such differences among four groups, it would be possible to develop a differentiated and more feasible communication plan aimed at decreasing consumers’ safety anxiety.

In conclusion, the level of consumers’ safety anxiety about Korea’s food environment was found to differ according to the food source group. Consumers showed a high level of anxiety about imported or externally made foods because of a lack of trust in the ingredients. In particular, consumers’ safety anxiety increased when they lacked knowledge about the food they were consuming. Therefore, it is necessary to provide accurate information about food source groups with a high level of safety anxiety in order to decrease consumers’ anxiety. In addition, gender, the age of the youngest child, and the level of health concern were related to anxiety about the food environment. Thus, a different approach is needed to prepare educational and promotional activities that reflect the characteristics of consumer groups with high levels of safety anxiety, such as women, parents with young children, and consumers with a high level of health concern. Based on the results of the current study, it is recommended that the government and food companies should develop differentiated communication strategies that consider such differences to reduce unnecessary safety anxiety about the food environment among consumers.