Risk Communication – Consumers Between Information and Irritation1

Health risks are front‐page news. Be it BSE, surface ozone or radiation from transmitter stations or mobile phones, the popular press puts out a constant stream of risk warnings and sensational reports about potential health threats. This article looks at how the general public perceives and assesses such information when it comes to food risks. In the first part, the elements of food risks are discussed and then compared with the perceptions of these risks. The last part of the paper deals with the consequences of risk assessments and risk perceptions for risk management and risk communication.