Study on food safety awareness and its correlation with socioeconomic factors of consumers in Nagpur city, Maharashtra

Abstract

A survey (sample size of 400) was conducted using a proportionate random sampling method. A bilingual (Marathi and English) questionnaire comprising questions related to consumer preferences, awareness of consumers regarding the type of meat and hygiene and expenses they incurred on meat and meat products was designed. This study aimed to investigate the actual level of food safety knowledge of consumers and its correlation with socioeconomic factors that are responsible for shaping the food safety mindset of consumers. The majority of the respondents (65.2%) were unaware of the Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSAI) in meat production. The majority of the consumers (80.8%) were unaware of the FSSAI registration or HACCP certification of meat shops from where they purchased meat. The results indicated that most of the respondents (75%) were unaware of animal welfare issues for the slaughter of animals by a humane method.