Investigation on household pork consumption behavior and the analysis of risk factors in three areas of Southern China

Abstract

ObjectiveTo analyze the risk factors and links of pork consumption behavior in the family scene， the current situation of pork purchase， transportation， storage， cooking and other related consumption behaviors of residents' families were investigated.MethodsA random sampling survey was conducted to investigate the main buyers and cookers of pork in households from September to November 2020 in Sichuan， Hunan and Guangxi， the major pork production and consumption provinces. Through face-to-face inquiry， the demographic characteristics， pork purchase， transportation， storage， cooking and cutting board tool cleaning methods of 480 respondents were obtained. The current situation of pork consumption behavior and food safety risks of residents' families were analyzed.ResultsMost of the respondents were women （84.2%， 404/480）， aged 45 and above （78.1%， 375/480）. In the processing of purchase and transportation， 56.0% （269/480） of the respondents only bought pork in the vegetable market， and rural residents were more willing to buy pork in the vegetable market than urban residents （P<0.05）. After purchasing， 96.9% （465/480） of the respondents put the pork in food bags seperately and get home within 1 h without ice bags during transportation. During the storage process， 28.4% （135/475） of the pork eaten that day was stored at room temperature， of which 41.5% （54/130） of them was stored for more than 2 hours. In the cooking process， only 18.5% （43/233） of the respondents covered the container with preservative film when marinating pork at room temperature， 71.9% （345/480） of the respondents judged whether the pork was fully cooked according to the color and hardness of the pork， and no respondents used thermometer. After the pork was cooked， 85.0% （408/480） of the respondents did not eat it all at one meal， and the leftover was open stored even overnight. For the evaluation of good practice， the proportion of sepertate chopping boards and knives among urban residents was higher than that of rural residents significantly （P<0.05）. At the same time， 45.2% （211/467） of the respondents did not wash their hands under running water for 20 s before cooking pork.ConclusionIn the three southern provinces， both urban and rural residents have potential food safety risks in household consumption such as pork purchase， transportation， storage and cooking. Targeted publicity， education and intervention on food safety of family chefs and family members should be strengthened.

Keywords

• household
• consumption behavior
• risk
• food safety
• foodborne disease