Food Protection Trends - July/August 2019 - 321

table 1. demographic profile of respondents (cont.)
Demographic Factor

Percentage of Respondents

Urban/Rural
Urban Core
Suburban
Small Town/Rural

37.9%
37.3%
23.2%

ignore recall information, rather only whether fatigue of such
information is present. The survey asked questions pertaining
to four broad themes: (1) General knowledge and awareness of
food recalls in Canada, (2) Consumer reaction to food recalls,
(3) Responsibility for food safety, and (4) Demographic and
Socio-economic information. Prior to the launch of the survey,
a pre-test was conducted to ensure that all questions were
clear and understandable. The survey, which was available
in both English and French to aid in capturing a broad and
representative sample of Canadians, is shown in Appendix A.
The survey was administered online through Qualtrics over
a two-day period in March 2018. Qualtrics allowed for the
survey to be distributed widely across the county, reaching
a broad spectrum of Canadians across several different
regions and socio-economic groups. Overall, 1,049 people
completed the survey, a sample size considered adequate for
an exploratory study of this nature. If this sample had been
completely random, it would have a margin of error of 3.1%,
assuming 95% confidence. However, our responses were not
collected entirely randomly, employing instead a convenience
sample, in which respondents are selected from a database
of Canadians who either have opted in or been invited to
participate in market research. Because of this limitation,
our results likely have a higher margin of error than if
respondents had been randomly selected from the entire
Canadian population.

earned less than $40,000, were single, were living in Quebec
and/or have a high school diploma (Table 2).
To test respondents' general knowledge of food recalls, four
examples, three real and one false, were presented in a random
rotation. Respondents were asked if they had heard of recalls
involving flour (2017), frozen fruits and vegetables (2016),
hummus (2016) or potatoes (false). Only 3.6% of respondents
answered this series of questions correctly. Although this does
not reveal why respondents are not retaining correct recall
information or specifically speak to recall fatigue, it does point
to the need for further study in order to identify the underlying
causes and possible impacts of erroneous identification of
relevant recalls.

RESULTS
The demographic and geographic profile of respondents
can be found in Table 1. The survey produced interesting
results about general knowledge and awareness of food
recalls, concern about foodborne illness and responsibility
for food safety. Significant results of cross tabulation
comparisons of responses to demographic information are
noted below the tables.

Concern about foodborne illness
Respondents were asked how concerned they were about
a variety of topics related to foodborne illnesses. In order
of most to least concern, respondents were concerned
about foods that are not fresh or stored properly, bacteria
and viruses in general, Listeria and Bovine Spongiform
Encephalopathy (mad cow disease) (Table 3).
Respondents who were most concerned about food recalls
were those with children, from Ontario and/or who were
married or in common law relationships. Respondents who were
most skeptical of the food recall system, agreeing that the risks
associated with food recalls are largely exaggerated, were those
who earn more than $150,000, generation Z and millennials
and/or those with two or more children. Confidence in the
current food recall regulatory was mixed, but in general those
who were most confident in the system were those who hold
advanced university degrees, earn more than $150,000, are male,
live in British Columbia and/or are baby boomers. In contrast,
those with the least confidence in the food regulatory system
were those who have a diploma, are divorced or separated, are
from Ontario and/or do not have children.

General knowledge and awareness of food recalls
Respondents who were most aware of food recalls were
those who earned $80,000 or above, were living in the
Atlantic Provinces, have a university degree and/or are
married or in a common-law relationship; respondents least
aware of food recalls were those who were of generation Z,

Responsibility for food safety
Overall, Canadians across all demographic groups do
not see themselves as responsible for food safety (Table 4),
instead seeing the government and government agencies
(particularly those at the federal level) as responsible for
food safety. The majority of Canadians believe that food

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