Food Protection Trends - November/December 2017 - 460

Ivan Parkin Lecture
The Anthropologist, the Chef, and the Kitchen Sink
Jose Emilio Esteban

Science Advisor
United States Department of Agriculture
FSIS-OPHS-EALS
Athens, Georgia
Food safety today is not the same as it was yesterday or a year ago or even a decade ago. How we interact
within and between academia, industry, and government
has to change and adapt. Pathogens change; we adjust
by creating new interventions. Biocides are developed
and drug residues are introduced into our food supply.
We find better ways to decontaminate. Constant changes
in hazards require us to generate new detection and
characterization technologies in an endless attempt to
detect hazards at lower levels, with faster speed and
with more accuracy.
Constant changes require us to continually update
our food safety communication strategy. Today our
"safe food" message is direct, aimed at all community
groups and based on scientific data, long laboratorybased studies and experiments. However, the individual
receiving that message turns information into decisions
based on their personal context. For example, a chef
would take food safety information and process it in the
context of taste, price, product, and presentation of a
menu. A menu is then created that is affordable, with
elements that are fresh and flavorful, and all together
in a presentation that is both appealing and safe. By
contrast, an anthropologist may take the same food safety
information and try to elucidate the association between
a particular type of food item and its origin to understand
the reason for harvesting, processing, and cooking
food a certain way. A similar food item could be treated
completely different, depending on the culture, religion,
area of the world, or resources available.
The message "clean, separate, cook, chill" will have
a different interpretation, depending on who is receiving
the message, the context of the message, and how it is
received. Communication requires at least two actively
engaged parties and a single overriding communication
objective. How this interaction takes place can be
through person-to-person means, via a written message,
or through pictures. Ultimately, the success of the messaging effort needs to align with the perception of the idea.
When it comes to conveying a food safety message,
one must take into consideration not only the audience
we are trying to reach, but also the context in which
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Food Protection Trends November/December

the food may be
consumed. We
need to craft
an information
campaign very
differently for a
group of children at
a school cafeteria
than for those same
children while
eating at a public
function.
The way in which the safety message is conveyed is
also constantly changing as the societal characteristics
morph. In the early stages of the 20th century, food safety
messages were shared person-to-person while the family
cooked their meals at home from food items harvested
in their backyards. Almost half of the U.S. population
was rural. Demographics changed to a more urban
lifestyle. Refrigeration became readily available and
electricity was available in every home. We had to adapt
the messaging away from person-to-person by adding
cookbooks and printed guides. As gentrification and
urbanization progressed, every home had a television and
a microwave oven. Again, the vehicle for communication
changed to include graphics and cooking shows. More
recently, we have yet added a new stage, that of home
delivery of ready-to-eat meals, which again calls for more
up-to-date approaches on how to serve-safe food.
If communicating a clear, simple, concise, and effective message were not difficult enough, we also face
additional challenges. What is considered food today may
not have been "food" a few years ago. Food harvested
on the opposite side of the world is now available within
a few hours at our grocery store. The world population is
becoming more heterogeneous and our ranges of tastes
and expectations are vastly expanded. Walking down
a single street in most large cities can offer dozens of
different ethnic food options, all of which have unique
ingredients and food preparation styles. What is normal
for one consumer group may be considered strange for
another.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Protection Trends - November/December 2017