Consumers' Knowledge, Awareness and Perception of Food Safety Risks and their Willingness to Pay for Food Safety Preventive Measures for Selected Vegetables in Los Banos, Laguna, 2020

Date

7-2020

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics

College

College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Ruby Jane C. Estadilla

Committee Member

Ruby Jane C. Estadilla, Antonio Jesus A. Quilloy, Agham C. Cuevas

Abstract

This study was conducted in order to assess the consumers' knowledge, awareness, and perception of food safety risks, and to determine their willingness to pay for preventive measures which will improve the safety of vegetables. A total of 70 respondents from the different rural barangays in Los Banos were personally interviewed. Primary and secondary data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, likert-scale, contingent valuation method, two-way ANOVA, and tobit regression analyses.

The results of the study revealed that the majority of the respondents prefer to purchase vegetables on public markets because of its accessibility. As for the frequency of purchase, a great number of respondents buy vegetables on a weekly basis. In line with this, it was determined that the respondents purchase an average of 2.37 kilograms of bitter gourd, 2.66 kilograms of tomato, and 2.49 kilograms of eggplant in a month. As for the criteria in purchasing vegetables, the respondents were more particular with the appearance, freshness, and size of the vegetables. For food safety knowledge, the majority of the respondents are knowledgeable about proper personal hygiene when preparing food, and the cross-contamination and sanitation of vegetables. However, many of them lacked the knowledge regarding the symptoms of foodborne diseases. Less than half of the respondents had a high level of awareness both for pesticide residues and microbial pathogen contaminants present on vegetables. For the risk perception, most of the respondents were found to have a moderate to very high-risk perception both for the pesticide residues and microbial contaminants. Similarly, the majority of the respondents were categorized to have a moderate to high level of employment of handling practices for the selected vegetables at household level.

Meanwhile, the percentage of respondents who expressed their willingness to pay for the implementation of preventive measures which will improve the safety of vegetables ranged from 53 percent to 93 percent for all the three selected vegetables. On the average, the respondents' WTP amounts for the five preventive measures ranged from PhP 5.81-PhP 11.93, while the estimated total monthly WTP amounts for the preventive measures ranged from PhP 252,164.42-PhP 566,501.26. The tobit regression models which were statistically significant are the models for pesticide-free tomato, water microbial test for bitter gourd and tomato, temperature-controlled transport vehicle for bittergourd, and the regression model for training programs for vegetable handlers of bitter gourd. Generally, the factors which were revealed to have a consistent effect on the consumer's WTP amounts for the preventive measures are the consumer's age, average monthly volume of purchase, household size, number of earning household member, level of handling practices employment, level of awareness, and level of risk perception,

The study recommends conducting food safety awareness programs which aims to improve the consumers' knowledge on food safety, and to encourage them to practice the proper food safety measures. Also, producers must be encouraged to adopt an effective traceability system and quality certification which will provide the consumers the necessary information about the preventive measures which were done to the vegetables.

Language

English

LC Subject

Food Handling

Location

UPLB College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Call Number

LG 993.5 2020 A14 T36

Document Type

Thesis

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