Austrian risk survey assesses food concerns

A recent report on a survey in Austria has revealed how concerned different groups are about a range of topics, including food safety.

The Risk Barometer looks at how the Austrian population perceives various factors influencing their health. The online survey was carried out in late 2023 to early 2024 and covered health, food safety, nutrition, and the environment.

The focus was on comparing the risk assessment of different occupational groups and the public with Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) experts. Questions were asked to 100 doctors, 183 veterinarians, 75 journalists, 102 teachers, 101 catering staff, 105 citizens and 75 AGES experts.

In total, 44 percent of teachers, 40 percent of the population and 39 percent of the catering industry are concerned about food safety. Only 13 percent of AGES experts, 16 percent of journalists, 20 percent of veterinarians, and 39 percent of doctors are concerned.

More than 70 percent of teachers, catering staff, and the public see genetically modified foods as a probable risk of negative health effects compared to 44 percent of doctors, 46 percent of veterinarians, and 35 percent of journalists.

Concern around new food technologies in food production is greatest among the population, teachers, and the catering industry, at over 60 percent. Around half of doctors and veterinarians see this topic as a risk to health compared to a smaller proportion of journalists and AGES experts.

Differing thoughts on risky topics

AGES experts estimate the risk of negative health effects related to food additives, pesticide residues, and food contact materials to be lower than the other groups surveyed.

Pathogens and antibiotic resistance are of greater importance to AGES experts as a health risk. Data on pathogens and foodborne outbreaks support this judgement. Pathogens in food were mentioned by 40 percent of doctors and 44 percent of veterinarians as a probable risk. This goes up to 67 percent of the population and 65 percent for AGES experts.

The population considers malnutrition or overeating, sugar content in the diet, the effects of pesticides on the environment, ingredients in food contact materials, extreme weather, antibiotic resistance, microplastics in food, the effects of pesticides, pesticide residues in food, and the effects of hormone-like substances to be the 10 risks most likely to cause harmful effects.

Ingredients in materials that come into contact with food are considered a probable risk by 77 percent of the population and by 45 percent of AGES experts. A health risk from pesticide residues in food is considered probable by 78 percent of the population and 44 percent of AGES experts.

The biggest difference is on genetically modified foods. A total of 71 percent of Austrians surveyed see a probable risk of harmful health effects, while only 14 percent of AGES experts consider them to be a probable health risk.

Results from the population, teachers, and catering demonstrate that non-experts underestimate risks or accept them to a certain extent if they are taken voluntarily, such as overeating, or if a possible effect is delayed. They tend to overestimate risks if it is difficult to understand, the risk is new, if it is an unnatural risk or if the topic has a high media presence. People also struggle to differentiate between the terms risk and hazard.

According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), a hazard is something that has the potential to harm you while a risk is the likelihood of a hazard causing harm. For example, a poisonous mushroom is a hazard while eating a poisonous mushroom is a risk.

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Source: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2025/01/austrian-risk-survey-assesses-food-concerns/