Consumers' perceptions and willingness to purchase pork labelled 'raised without antibiotics'

Contract governance to reduce antimicrobial overuse in hog farms in China

Antimicrobial resistance caused by the overuse of antimicrobials by farmers is an essential health issue. Currently, signing contracts between farmers and cooperatives has become crucial for small farmers to integrate into the modern agricultural industry chain. Unlike vertical government governance, which aims to intervene in the overuse of antimicrobials by farmers through many mandatory or incentive measures, contract governance refers to the social governance model that clarifies rights and obligations between farmers and cooperatives to ensure the adequate performance of contracts, which is especially beneficial to regulate farmers' safe production behavior such as the standard use of antimicrobials. However, there is a research gap concerning the effectiveness of contract governance in inhibiting farmers' overuse of animal antimicrobials. This study applies propensity score matching and mediation analysis method to assess how contract governance affects the overuse of antimicrobials by hog farmers. The paper uses data from 498 hog farmers of China's Hebei, Henan, and Hubei provinces to explore the impact and underlying mechanisms of contract governance on antimicrobial overuse in agriculture. The results showed that contract governance was found to inhibit the overuse of antimicrobials, with the amount paid for antimicrobials reduced by 118 yuan/household. We found evidence that this effect is exerted through three mechanisms: cooperative supervision (CS), technical guidance (TG), and product premium perception (PP). The CS, TG, and PP mediation effects accounted for 19.94%, 27.90%, and 26.93% of the total impact, respectively. Therefore, policy implications of these results include strengthening the standard of contract signing procedures and the integrity of executing contracts, increasing the market premium for products that meet the antimicrobial residue standards, and enhancing farmers' knowledge and contracting ability.

The effect of information provision on consumers' risk perceptions of, support for a ban, and behavioral intention towards the preventive use of antibiotics in food animals

BACKGROUND

Antibiotics have been widely used in feed and drinking water for food animals to prevent them from getting sick. Such preventive use of antibiotics has become a contributor to increasing antibiotic resistance and thus poses threats to human health. However, consumers have little knowledge about this practice and the associated health risks of increasing transmission of antibiotic residues and antibiotic resistant bacteria. This study aimed to examine the effect of information provision on consumers' risk perceptions, support for a ban, and behavioral intention regarding the preventive use of antibiotics in food animals. Especially, the study sought to test two competing hypotheses which were informed by two theoretical perspectives of fear appeal theory - the linear model and the plateau effect model. The former suggested that providing information on the health risks of both antibiotic residues and antibiotic resistant bacteria would have a stronger effect compared to providing information on only one of them, while the latter posited that providing information on both risks might not have additional influence, as the effect of information on either risk could reach the plateau.

METHODS

An experimental study with four conditions was conducted where participants read different information on the health risks associated with the preventive use first and then answered questions regarding consumers' risk perceptions, support for a ban, and behavioral intention regarding the preventive use. Condition 1 was the control condition, where basic information about antibiotics, antibiotic resistance, and the preventive use was provided. Condition 2 and Condition 3 further added information on the health risk of antibiotic residues (Condition 2) and antibiotic resistant bacteria (Condition 3) due to the preventive use, respectively. Condition 4 provided all information contained in the first three conditions.

RESULTS

The results showed that compared to participants in the control condition, participants in Conditions 2-4 reported higher risk perceptions, stronger support for a ban on the preventive use, and a higher intention to buy meat produced without the preventive use of antibiotics. However, there were no significant differences in these factors between Conditions 2-4, indicating that providing information on the health risk of either antibiotic residues, or antibiotic resistant bacteria, or both, has similar effect on these variables. That is, the hypothesis based on the plateau effect model was supported.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings suggested that informing the public with the health risk of either antibiotic residues or antibiotic resistant bacteria associated with the preventive use is effective enough to reach plateau effect in increasing risk perceptions, support for a ban, and behavioral intention, which has important implications for policymakers and livestock industries to develop effective communication strategies to promote responsible antibiotic use in food animals.

The effect of a One Health message intervention on willingness to pay for antibiotic-free animal foods: A randomized controlled trial among Chinese college students

Routine use of antibiotics in livestock for prophylactic purposes is a main driver of antimicrobial resistance, posing a significant threat to the health of humans, animals, and the environment. Ways to motivate farmers to voluntarily reduce antibiotics use need to be explored. Promoting antibiotic-free animal foods is one of the promising strategies. A three-arm double-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted online to explore the impact of a One Health message intervention on Chinese college students' willingness to pay for antibiotic-free animal foods. A total of 389 individuals participated in this study and were randomly assigned to one of the One Health message group, the food nutrition and safety message group, and the no message group. Each participant read a message from the corresponding group and answered a self-report questionnaire. Participants' willingness to pay (WTP) and willingness to buy (WTB) for antibiotic-free pork, eggs, and milk were measured before and after viewing the One Health message, and the results were compared to the other two groups using the Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test and the Bonferroni correction. In the One Health message group, 30.2% (39/129) reported improved WTP for all three foods, compared to 6.2% (8/130) and 13.6% (17/125) in the food nutrition and safety message group and the no message group, respectively. The One Health message intervention had a significant effect on increasing participants' WTP (p < 0.001) and WTB (p < 0.05) for antibiotic-free pork, eggs, and milk. The One Health message intervention is effective in raising participants' WTP for antibiotic-free animal foods. It is hopeful to motivate farmers and producers to voluntarily reduce prophylactic antibiotic use through market demand and consumer choice, leading to a potential decrease in total antibiotics use in livestock. Additionally, integrated approaches based on One Health principles need to be found in the future.

Consumer Preferences and Attitudes towards Antibiotic Use in Food Animals

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the major challenges faced by society, with the real threat of the failure of many medical procedures. Antibiotics are also used in livestock production and provide a potential pathway to increasing AMR. The central challenge involves ensuring animal health and welfare while securing the long-term effectiveness of antibiotics. This paper reports the results of a survey of 5693 respondents from the customer panels of four major UK supermarkets regarding preferences and attitudes towards antibiotic use in food animals, and their perspectives on how the balance between animal welfare and human benefit can be achieved. The results of these surveys are consistent with those from other countries that found that consumers generally have limited knowledge about antibiotic use in agriculture and AMR, with around 50% responding "don't know" to many questions. There was agreement about the benefits of antibiotics outweighing harm, with 40% agreeing that, overall, the use of antibiotics to treat disease in farm animals delivers more benefit than harm. However, 44% neither agreed nor disagreed, indicating a high level of uncertainty and a situation that is potentially unstable. The seriousness of the AMR challenge is such that continued action for the more discriminating use of antibiotics must continue.

The impact of anchor characteristics on consumers' willingness to pay a premium for food-an empirical study

In the food industry space, Netflix foods have exploded onto the Internet on the back of social media and many consumers are paying a premium for them. So what are the motives that may inspire consumers' willingness to pay premium? In this paper, from the perspective of anchor, an external cue, a questionnaire survey was conducted with 275 respondents and analyzed using SPSS software. The results show that anchor characteristics (interactivity, professionalism and popularity) can influence consumers' perceived value and increase their premium purchase intention. Perceived value mediates the relationship between anchor characteristics and willingness to pay a premium. Limited-time limited-quantity positively moderated the relationship between perceived value and premium purchase intention. The results reveal the key role of anchors in consumers' decision-making process of buying Netflix food at a premium, and provide a theoretical basis for enterprises to select and cultivate anchors for product promotion.

Multi-mycotoxin determination in plant-based meat alternatives and exposure assessment

The aim of this study was to fill in the gap regarding the occurrence of mycotoxins in plant-based meat alternatives. Hence, a multi-mycotoxin method (aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, fumonisins, zearalenone, and mycotoxins from the Alternaria alternata genera) was developed followed by an exposure assessment for the Italian consumers' exposure to mycotoxins. A total of 13 meat alternatives samples based on soy, pea, chickpea, lupin, and seitan were analysed. With the exception of seitan, all of the remaining samples were contaminated with one mycotoxin or mixtures of up to seven mycotoxins. The level of contamination was as low as 0.2 μg/kg alternariol methyl ether and as high as 66.9 μg/kg fumonisin B1. To analyse the exposure to mycotoxins due to plant-based meat alternatives consumption we used the consumption meat data from the Food and Agriculture Organization for Italian adult consumers and simulated a full replacement of meat with plant-based meat alternatives. Based on our model, consumption of plant-based meat alternatives led to a non-tolerable exposure to alternariol (hazard index (HI) > 1) in pea-based burger and soy + wheat-based steak, while samples contaminated with aflatoxins, respectively ochratoxin A, indicated a health concern related to liver and renal cancer (margin of exposure (MOE) < 10,000). This is the first study that presents the co-occurrence of mycotoxins in multiple plant-based meat alternatives. Moreover, these results indicate that there is a need for policymakers to consider the regulation of mycotoxins in plant-based meat alternatives in order to ensure consumers' safety.

Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis for Assessing Social Acceptance of Strategies to Reduce Antimicrobial Use in the French Dairy Industry

To respond to the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threat, public health entities implement policies aiming to reduce antimicrobial use (AMU) in livestock systems, in which policy success and sustainability might be subject to the social acceptability of the novel regulatory environment. Therefore, consistent methods that gather and synthesize preferences of stakeholder groups are needed during the policy design. The objective of this study was to present a methodology for evaluating the acceptability of potential strategies to reduce AMU using multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) using French dairy industry as a model. Preference-ranking organization methods for enrichment evaluations were applied to rank stakeholders' acceptance of four different potential AMU reduction strategies: 1. Baseline AMU regulations in France; 2. Total interdiction of AMU; 3. Interdiction of prophylaxis and metaphylaxis AMU; and 4. Subsidies to reduce AMU by 25%. A total of 15 stakeholders (consumers, n = 10; farmers, n = 2; public health representatives, n = 3) representing the French dairy sector and public health administration participated in the acceptance weighting of the strategies in relation with their impact on environmental, economic, social, and political criteria. We established a MCDA methodology and result-interpretation approach that can assist in prioritizing alternatives to cope with AMR in the French dairy industry or in other livestock systems. Our MCDA framework showed that consumers and public health representatives preferred alternatives that consider the restriction of AMU, whereas farmers preferred to maintain baseline policy.

Understanding Blood versus Blond Orange Consumption: A Cross-Cultural Study in Four Countries

Understanding consumer perceptions and attitudes to specific fruit is key information for not only increasing fruit consumption, but also for marketing reasons. It may also give clues to breeders to set quality objectives. This study explores different aspects that help to explain blood vs. blond orange consumption: availability and consumption habit, satisfaction attributes, facilitators and consumption barriers, consumption contexts, expectations and purchase intention. The study was conducted in China, Mexico, Spain and Italy, where citrus fruit consumers were invited to respond an online questionnaire. Our results revealed Italy as the country with the highest availability and consumption of blood oranges, followed by China, Mexico and Spain. "Liking" and "healthy properties" were the most important reasons for consumption irrespectively of orange type, but certain differences among countries were detected in secondary reasons. In all the countries, "juicy" was the most relevant attribute for consumer satisfaction, followed by flavour/taste attributes. "Aromatic" and "unfibrous" were substantial requirements for Italians and Chinese, while Spaniards attached importance to the blood oranges colour. Regarding consumption contexts, "eat with salt or chilly powder" was specific for Mexico, while "to improve health", "as a gift" or "at a restaurant" were contexts mainly cited in China. Despite taste preferences for other fruit being the main consumption barrier in all the countries for both orange types, the relevance of other barriers depended on culture and orange type. Mexican participants seemed to take a more neophobic attitude to blood oranges, while "inconvenient" was reported as a barrier for consuming blond ones in Spain and China. We conclude that blond and blood oranges can co-exist on markets at a high consumption rate, as in Italy. Specific interventions are needed in other countries because consumer attitudes to oranges, mainly blood ones, depend on culture.

Trichurosis on a Conventional Swine Fattening Farm with Extensive Husbandry—A Case Report

Helminth infections of swine regain clinical and economic importance due to the increasing demand for pork from extensive husbandry. Infections with Trichuris suis in pigs can lead to wasting and diarrhoea. This was demonstrated by a case of clinical trichurosis on a conventional fattening farm, where pigs were kept on pasture. While all pre-fattening pigs, which had not been on the pasture yet, had a good body condition and firm faeces, diarrhoea and poor body condition were observed in approximately half of the fattening pigs kept on pasture. Rectally collected faecal samples from all animals were investigated using faecal flotation. High numbers of T. suis eggs were detected in 17 out of 32 faecal samples, while all samples from pre-fattening pigs were negative. The highest number of eggs per gram of faeces was 778,000. Two out of three environmental samples were also positive for T. suis in faecal flotation. This case demonstrates that T. suis must be considered as an enteropathogen in pigs kept on pasture, as favourable environmental conditions, and the lack of removal of faeces from a pasture can lead to the accumulation of large numbers of infective eggs in the pigs’ surroundings.