A survey in Switzerland has found that higher living costs have had a negative impact on the food safety behavior of consumers, according to a recently released report.
The general cost of living and especially energy prices have risen sharply since April 2022. More than 1,200 people in Switzerland were surveyed in February 2024 about their behavior in reaction to this situation. About half of participants said they had adjusted their standard of living. Just under a quarter had used less energy since the price rises in 2022.
The study, commissioned by the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO), determined the extent to which the Swiss population reacted to the energy crisis with regard to food safety. The aim was to identify potential risky behavior to help with risk communication messages. Findings were published in the journal Food Risk Assess Europe.
The 291 people who were using less energy were asked about their motivation. The vast majority said the main reason was to save money and a quarter wanted to be more sustainable.
Food safety impact
People who had been saving energy since costs increased were doing so in areas that affect food safety. They were presented with seven energy saving measures related to food storage and asked whether they had taken these actions since the cost increase.
About 40 percent of these individuals said they now store certain foods outside the refrigerator, one in four had increased the temperature in their fridge, and the same amount were using their balcony as a refrigerator during the colder months. A few had switched off their fridge or freezer for a certain period of time.
Just less than three-quarters of those surveyed who had reduced their energy consumption since 2022 had started cooking while the oven was still heating up to reduce baking time, 68 percent switched off their oven or hob before they had finished cooking and used the residual heat, and just under half had changed preparation methods to save energy.
About 30 percent of respondents had increasingly consumed food after the best-before date since costs had risen, and almost the same number had more often ignored the use-by date for perishable foods. Roughly 30 percent of those surveyed said that since 2022, they had bought food that had been reduced because of a short expiry date more often. Findings indicate that people do not differentiate between these two shelf life dates.
About one in five were cooking more food than necessary and eating leftovers at a later date. Almost 14 percent reheat food more than once. Since the cost increase, 12 percent smell food more often to decide whether it is still safe to eat.
Just less than 90 percent let leftovers cool down before storing them in the refrigerator, and about 75 percent ensured an uninterrupted cold chain. More than 60 percent know and use the different temperature zones in the fridge, use foods within one to two days of opened packages and defrost frozen goods in the refrigerator.
Vulnerable people at risk
A total of 71 respondents said they had had unusual health problems related to food since the beginning of 2022.
Data shows that low-education and low-income households are affected to a greater extent and demonstrate risk-taking more often than other households. The French- and Italian-speaking regions are more affected than German-speaking Switzerland. Price-sensitive, risk-taking individuals more frequently take actions that can compromise food safety to save money.
Results from the Consumer Insights Tracker by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) show that between July and September this year, 9 percent of people ate food past its use-by date as they couldn’t afford to buy more.
Across England, Wales and Northern Ireland 2,070 took part in the survey in July, 2,008 in August, and 2,014 in September. The survey revealed 14 percent had reduced the length of time food was cooked, 13 percent had lowered cooking temperatures, and 6 percent had turned off a fridge or freezer containing food.
These behavioral changes could also occur in Switzerland, which could impact the number of food-related illnesses.
Swiss researchers said the increase in costs in general, especially in energy, has a negative impact on the population’s behavior with regard to food safety.
“The public must be made aware of this and it must be made clear that measures that affect food safety are not suitable for saving money. Particular attention must be paid to expiration dates. The public still does not seem to differentiate between the two dates and disregards the use-by date just as much as the best-before date. More educational work is needed so that the public learns how to deal with the use-by date correctly.”
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