The food safety issue and the consumer behaviour in a transition economy: a case study of Hungary

The food safety problem is gaining importance not only in developed “welfare” economies, but also in former socialist countries. The article analyses the attitudes and opinions of Hungarian consumers on problems of food safety, based on a direct question survey, consisting mainly of closed questions. For the majority of Hungarian consumers the food safety issue is a top priority problem. Consumers consider the microbial and hygienic quality of food, food processing and catering as the most important threat for food safety. The elder generations and the women respondents were more worried about food safety problems. In general, respondents with lower qualification level underestimate the importance of food safety problems. In most cases there were no significant differences between the opinion of respondents with at least MSc qualification level in field of human or natural sciences, having no relation to food safety, and the opinion of specialists in food safety. Combining factor and cluster analysis, five main consumer types can be separated from each other from viewpoint of evaluation of various risk factors threatening food safety. These groups can be matched with the social status of respondents. Consumers demand a more rigid official control of food safety, even if this could increase the food price. Most of the consumers accept the modern food preservation methods.