Kenneth Fleming, School of Journalism, University of Missouri-Columbia, 135 Neff Annex, Columbia, MO 65211, (573) 884-6563, flemingk@missouri.edu, Esther Thorson, PhD, School of Journalism, University of Missouri, 116 Walter Williams Blvd., Graduate Studies Center, Columbia, MO 65211, Christopher Beaudoin, Department of Communications, Indiana University, Bloomington Street, Bloomington, IN 47405, and Traci Hong, PhD, Telecommunications Department, Indiana University, 1229 East 7th Street, Bloomington, IN 47405.

As one of its five goals, the Food Safety and Inspection Service clearly indicates that "communicating with the public about food safety must be accomplished in a manner that is easily understandable so that it is useful to every segment of the population." Using a multi-dimensional measure of concern about food safety (alpha = 0.92) collected in a telephone survey in Missouri (n=524), our data show that gender, education, and income were correlated with food safety concern, with women and those less educated and less wealthy showing more concerns. Most people learnt about food-safety issues from news media. When demographics were statistically controlled, both local newspapers and television news significantly predicted the public concern. Meantime, public concern about food safety was highly correlated with elaborative processing and active reflection factors, two strategies that people usually use to process information from the news media. Both information-processing strategies were important mediators of the effects of news media on the public concern, suggesting that people must possess information to become aware of important food-safety issues, and that elaboration, reflection, and attention to news media can cause public learning about food safety. Attention to local television news had a direct impact on the public concern, implying that local television news could be an important source of information for public awareness of food safety and efforts in enhancing food security. The findings of the study provide implications for public health policy makers and educators to find creative and effective ways to communicate with the public about food safety.

Learning Objectives:

• Audience of the presentation will learn about the factors that influence public concern about food safety and its relationship to information seeking and processing in understanding food-safety related issues. They will also learn about the importance of local news media as sources of information and the psychological and cognitive factors that can be used to explore effective ways to disseminate information about food safety issues as well as efforts in enhancing food security to the general public.

Keywords: Food Safety, Communication Effects

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.