Pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables are the top food safety fear among consumers in five countries.
Scientists from the not-for-profit group CABI used survey data from 8,644 people in Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya, Pakistan, and Uganda. They assessed concerns about food safety risks, attitudes toward pesticide use in fruit and vegetable production, and how pesticide concerns and socioeconomic factors affect outlet choices.
Consumers who expressed concerns with pesticides were more likely to demand fruits and vegetables from specialist shops and avoid such goods from street hawkers.
The study, published in the journal Global Food Security, found that pesticides were the most cited source of food safety concerns, followed by microbial food poisoning and food additives.
Pesticide use concerns
The percentage of respondents whose household members have reportedly experienced food poisoning symptoms after consuming fruits and vegetables varied from 23 percent in Kenya to 43 percent in Pakistan.
Dr. Justice Tambo, lead author of the study and senior socio-economist at CABI, said: “Fruits and vegetables are critical components of nutritious and healthy diets, but there are growing concerns about food safety risks linked to their consumption.
“Given the less importance consumers in Africa give to safety and quality attributes when choosing fruits and vegetables retail outlets, it is not surprising that very few of them buy their fruits and vegetables from supermarkets, which are perceived to be associated with the sale of high-quality and safer food products.”
Scientists suggested that the high concern about pesticide residues could be due to several factors. These include the intensive use of synthetic pesticides and the low adoption of non-chemical pest management strategies among fruit and vegetable farmers in the studied countries. The share of farmers who opt for chemical pest control ranges from 77 percent in Kenya to over 90 percent in Bangladesh, Ghana, and Pakistan. About half of these farmers reportedly spray pesticides weekly on their farms.
Surveys were conducted between 2021 and 2023 to help understand food safety concerns and practices among low—and middle-income country (LMIC) consumers.
A lack of information
Questionnaires included sections on consumer demographics, food consumption patterns and purchase behavior, food safety awareness and concerns, pesticide risks and safety concerns, and pesticide use practices in fruit and vegetable production.
Scientists found that, on average, only 56 percent of respondents had received information on food safety. In Pakistan and Uganda, less than half of people had been exposed to food safety information from radio, television, the internet, family and friends, and public health officials.
Consumers in LMICs tend to use multiple retail outlets for their fruit and vegetable purchases, including modern sites such as supermarkets and specialist shops and traditional outlets like street hawkers and open-air and roadside markets.
Less than a quarter of participants in Africa pay particular attention to produce quality and safety when choosing fruit and vegetable outlets, compared to about half of the sample of Asian consumers.
Distance and price were key factors that consumers consider when deciding on producing retail outlets.
A larger share of Bangladeshi consumers expressed concerns about food safety issues than people in Ghana, Kenya, Pakistan, and Uganda. For instance, nearly two-thirds of Bangladeshi consumers raised concerns about microbial food poisoning, heavy metal contamination, and food additives. In contrast, less than half of consumers in other countries had such concerns.
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