Using Social Media to Improve Food Safety

Using Social Media to Improve Food sentry dutyCatalin AricescuAbstractThe Food and do drugs Administration is an organization mandated to oversee the nutriment and do drugs rubber within the United States. On the other hand, selective education technology is growing flying and the agency take to implement break-dance means of dialogue especially with its billeticipants from consumers to intellectual nourishment sources. This study is a pilot research utilizing online deal to comprehend the feasibility of mixer media exercising for the melioration of the American nutriment safety agreement. The results of the study show that to a greater extent(prenominal) research is necessary as the brotherly media delectationrs are mainly young and educated adults and they play an imperative role in the quick dissemination of preventive nurture, as well as solid solid food recall notices, in a manner that is likely to be heard or read widely. Therefore, it would be essential fo r the American Food and Drug Administration to incorporate neighborly media into its main strategy.IntroductionThis pilot study was conducted to find place whether the food regulatory agencies much(prenominal) as the Food honestty and Inspection Service and the Food and Drug Administration should consider using mixer media as a means of improving the food safety system. According to Lang, Barling, Caraher, (2011) the utilization of friendly cyberspaceing in organizations is emerging. On the other hand, Seo, Almanza, Miao, Behnke, (2015) bear out that the strategic usage of social media in public firms is yet to be studied in great depth.According to Lang, Barling, Caraher, (2011), the ex switch over of food cultivation and know guidege on food jeopardize is a form of vulnerability communication in food and safety procedures. Having considered the major characteristics of a food safety system, this pilot study aimed at proofing those effectual and efficient food safet y procedures are by means of the adoption of social media use by various regulatory bodies. The agenda may be attain by bringing together organizations and individuals representing various backgrounds.BackgroundPublic Policy and Food Safety According to the Consumers Union (2013), the Food and Drug Administration is an trigger that is supposed to be a consumers watchdog. However, the agency has fallen short of its mandate. In the U.S., companies that supply processed foods often do not lease the capacity to indorsement ingredient safety. Labs (2013) sustains that most of the American corporations do not even know the people or companies that supply their ingredients. Additionally, they do not know whether those suppliers ingredients are screened for microbes or other potentially harmful microorganisms.Recently, the main public policy strategic focus on food safety has been adjudge. One of the strategies used to achieve control is through food recalls. Mayer and Harris (2012) s ay that food recalls often occur due to quality, physical or biological contamination. The Department of Agriculture, the FDA manufacturer, or the distributor can educate a recall (Labs, 2013). For food recalls to occur fast, there should be a victorian and effective means of message dissemination. Rapid selective randomness dissemination makes it easier to surveil the data to know whether those affected have obtained the information on the withdrawal. On the other hand, Seo, Almanza, Miao, Behnke, 2015 state the Food Safety Modernization Act is trying to change food safety management from reaction to prevention.Lang, Barling, and Caraher (2011) also state that more(prenominal) groups are involved in the nations food safety program. For instance, the United States Food Safety Working Group implemented innovative strategies for the American food safety system. The FSWG is a group that is focused on the modernization of the food safety system especially through partnerships wit h regulatory agencies, the food industry, and consumers. The FSWG suggested a better route to freedom from fear of food safety to safe food through alter food systems. Consequently, the FSWG is based on three principles that are strengthening surveillance, prioritizing prevention and improvement of response and recovery.Using social media for food safetyAccording to Mayer (2013), proper food recalling forms of communications are still in the infancy stage. Collier (2011) maintains that twain subjective norms and attitudes have an impact on consumers and their intent to act in accordance with a food recall. Attitudes have a greater impact on the peoples ability to comply. Subjective norms and attitudes can be found on social ne iirks. Consequently, social networks are imperative, according to Deasy (2012), and the role of social media is imperative in public policy. Mayer (2013) also suggests that regulatory bodies should emphasize the need to use social media. The use of social me dia is essential as it involves bringing together heterogeneous groups that form a social network. A social network is easier to coordinate when trying to severalize food hazards as well as propagate any form of food recall information (Karp, Baur, Atwill, De Master, Gennet, Iles, Kremen, 2015).Apart from using its website, the FDA could incorporate social networking strategies to change it reach more consumers especially when required to recall certain products from a market. Taylor, and Sklamberg (2016) state that the FDA website offers information or announcements on all forms of recalls. Additionally, consumers can obtain e-mails afterwards requesting to receive alerts on the website. Consumers that have food problems can report on the website, as the FDA has employed complaint coordinators within FDA district offices, to receive all forms of food complaints (Taylor Sklamberg, 2016). Furthermore, the conventional countersign outlets in the nation can broadcast recall info rmation. On the other hand, with the increased use of social media, it would be important for the reinvigorateds media and regulatory bodies to use social networks as a means of reaching a wider audience in a short magazine (Deasy, 2012). The social networks impart people to obtain information in real time while people may hear of a recall from a television or radio long after it was issued. For instance, Plum Organics is an organization that has voluntarily used social media to spread information on food.Labs (2013) states that people hearing negative news, such as a recall, that has a direct influence on them, will try to obtain information from informal networks. Additionally, Taylor Sklamberg (2016) say that people are more likely to participate in spreading the information when they believe that the negative event affects them directly and understand that the consequences are serious enough to call for an action. Freberg, Graham, McGaughey, Freberg, (2011) affirm that the c onsumers are important agents in spreading the information about a food recall that would effectively work online.Social media influencers are an essential part of the social networking and could dish out in the dissemination of information on food safety. According to Freberg, Graham, McGaughey, and Freberg (2011), consumers who use the social media such as tweets, blogs, or other political platforms to spread a negative event are known as social media influencers. Social media influencers play an essential role in the creation of noise in the system and on most occasions, their credibility is questioned due to misinformation or distortion of information. On the other hand, Lang, Barling, Caraher (2011) state that social media could still be used for the improvement of the food safety system.Social media use can be imperative in the food system. As Karp, Baur, Atwill, De Master, et al. (2015) sustain, the system could adopt a strategy that could inspection and repair in the exp loitation of the social networks, especially the social media. The social media may not only expand the systems versatile ability, but also improve its information dissemination to the public as well as take preventive role through tapping into diverse and unutilized resources on food hazard issues. Lang, Barling, and Caraher (2011) add that information and communication technological improvements helped develop ways through which the public agencies can learn on potential food hazards fast. The public agency still needs to coordinate communication to maintain the systems integrity. However, the planned utilization of innovative technologies allows coordination with regulatory interventions efficiently (Lang, Barling, Caraher, 2011).In spreading negative news, the social networks have been used extensively. Deasy (2012) maintains that new communication technologies can be utilized as an essential part of the food system, allowing all participants to exchange information on food saf ety. However, Mayer (2013) states that little driveway has been used to involve consumers as participants in food safety. Research on social network use within corporations is still emerging. However, little information is easy on its strategic use within public firms (Collier, 2012). The main disadvantage in the use of social media in public firms is information distortions.According to Taylor, and Sklamberg (2016), information disseminated online can be easily manipulated to a certain degree, which (Collier, 2012) states could bring about nave learning. Online information is often asymmetrical. Consequently, individuals, and organizations could try to insert false information into the social networks. Lang, Barling, Caraher (2011) state that some(prenominal) companies may choose to alter the information with an aim of raising their competitions costs. Additionally, social media influencers may obtain an incentive to manipulate specific information to increase their popularity online. Taylor, and Sklamberg, (2016) say that efforts have been made to uncover such attempts but still no protection is available from such manipulation. Consequently, efforts to use the social network to pass information on food safety should be considered.Materials and MethodsIn the study, it was imperative to understand the current situation on public agency use of social media on food recalls. To comprehend the current situation within the United States it was important to carry out a survey, which was done between work on 1 and March 9 2017. The survey aimed at focusing on the respondents attention. The main purpose of the study was to examine the responses on food recall. According to Deasy (2012), a food recall is the request to return an entire food production of a particular food product to the seller and it is usually done once safety issues are discovered.Social media use was common in this survey consequently, the first question asked in the survey was Which technolo gical device do you use regularly (Computer, laptop, tablet or Smartphone)? The survey also includes two essential questions on product recall experiences. The questions were Have you ever heard of a food recall? and How did you hear about the food recall? Seven demographic items followed the two questions. On the other hand, a participant that indicated she or he had never heard of a food recall, she or he automatically moved to next part of the survey.To obtain more information on personal experiences, the survey also included four scenarios that allowed the respondents to give more information. The first two circumstances dealt with the participants personal experiences particularly with food issues. The last two dealt with the recall announcements. uniform to the last section, anyone who has not experienced any scenario on food issues automatically moved to the next section.Table 1Scenarios used in the survey scratch ScenarioThe experience of a main issueHave you ever eaten lun ch at a eating house and later ad a severe bellyache leading to diarrhea and forcing you to seek medical assistance?Second ScenarioExperienced a minor problemHave you ever eaten at a restaurant and later had an upset stomach?Third ScenarioProduct you used recalledYou bought a packaged lettuce and later heard its disgrace recalled on radio, television, newspaper or online 4th ScenarioRecall of a product you never usedYou heard a packaged lettuce recalled on radio, television, newspaper or online but you never use the brandThe study was done on utilizing SurveyMonkey.Com, and it ended with three open-ended questions that includedThink of an occasion when you experienced a problem after eating at home or your favorite joint. Tell us the incident. How did you feel, what was your reaction, did anyone know of the problem? Did you seek medical attention? Did you change your eating or food acquire practice?Think of an occasion when you heard of a food recall. Tell us about the inciden t, how did you feel, what was your reaction, did anyone know of the incidence, did you change your eating or food purchasing patterns?Do you have any additional comments?Participants use of social media The participants showed their comprehension of food recall as well as having shared information on bad food experiences with coworkers, friends, and family through diverse social media platforms. The sharing of the information occurred under certain circumstances, for example, gravity of the issue or the person contacted.According to Lang, Barling, and Caraher (2011), social media use is common in age groups between 18-29 years and 30-49 years. In the results of the survey, the studied group was within the said age groups. In the study, we found that opening to smart phones decreases with age while the use of computers, mainly desktop, increased with age. Additionally, the use of social media among the participants decreased with age, but varied in relation to the specific social me dia such as YouTube and Facebook, which are platforms common in all ages.In the study, 94.8% of the participants had heard of a food recall. Surprisingly, most of the participants had heard of the food recall through broadcast or print media. On the other hand, the younger participants especially those below 25 years had heard of the food recall on both broadcast media and social networks, while those above 25 years had heard of the food recall through broadcast and print media.The Concerns and Experiences of the Participants with Food ProblemsMost of the participants showed their occupation for food safety especially on the participation of the government as well as organizations in monitoring the process successfully. The participants mentioned the need for Food and Drug Administration agencys participation in monitoring the food that people consume.The consumers also noted that there is an increased use of informal communication in food safety. On the other hand, they also expre ssed their concerns for the increased caution when using social networks as the main form of communication. Furthermore, they appreciated the need to obtain information on bad food. However, it should be mentioned that the person giving the information may have been self-diagnosing inaccurately. The participants mentioned the need to notify the authorities or the necessary bodies whenever there were food recalls after notifying friends and family.The participants had experienced the second Scenario more than the first scenario. Additionally, it was evident that the participants would tell others about the first scenario experience more than they would have in the second scenario. Moreover, more participants would have told others in the third scenario than they would have in the fourth scenario. Similar to previous studies, it was evident that more people were likely to tell others of a food recall if they used that product or had a severe experience from eating the food.The study a lso aimed at looking at any pattern on the responses. Therefore, Symphony software was used. On the other hand, a pattern did not exist as the participants mentioned different kinds of foods. Some of the foods mentioned included cereal, peanuts, beef, pizza, pork corn, fruit, chicken, lettuce, totality and chili, among others.The discovery of the patterns brought about the question Who is more likely to inform others on a recall or experience on bad food using the social media? To obtain an answer to the question all participants that used any form of social platform for more than one of the scenarios were grouped together. The activity led to the conclusion that well-educated and young adults especially females were more likely to spread information of a food recall.Table 2GenderAge disciplineFemale18-29 98College graduate 85Male18-29 79Advanced degree 87Outcomes and DiscussionsThe survey used a manageable sample of two hundred and fourteen respondents. Out of the 214, 212 respons es were obtained from three universities. In the study, there were more female respondents than males. The respondents were aged between 18 and 29 years. All the participants were from diverse racial backgrounds, well educated, and were studying different courses at their universities. About 7.1% of the participants had attained their undergraduate education and were pursuing a higher level of education.More studies will be needed to obtain more conclusive information on the use of social networks for food safety. The results of this pilot study suggested that the utilization of social media as a modality of spreading the word on bad food would enable people to cope with the situation better, both cognitively and emotionally. The process would also help in the improvement of the food safety system. The differences that social media can create in improving food safety may be due to the fast dissemination of information using social media. Information sent by a relative, friend, or a close contact is more likely to be read, rather than general public information, spread through a newspaper.The outcomes of the study also suggested that social network users are generally well-educated and young adults. On the other hand, those with the ability to spread the word are not necessarily those with the most friends online. When aspects such as education, race, and gender are constant, the younger generation is more likely to use social networking platforms more than the older persons are. Additionally, females are more likely to use social media than males. Presently, people often use social networking platforms to interact or spread information on events that they are not involved in or impacted by, directly.Upon hearing a recall of a acquainted(predicate) food product, females, unlike males, are more likely to pass information on the recall. Furthermore, an individual was more likely to spread the word on a recall after experiencing a severe food problem. On the oth er hand, those passing information were least likely to use social media as the platform to spread the word on a food recall. Therefore, agencies that need to improve their way of spreading information on food recall, need to adopt better plans, as well as formulate policies that ensure that the well-educated and young females are involved.Limitations of the StudyThis was a pilot study that was limited by time and as well as by using a specific demographic. The university students were the most purloin. However, the study lacked diversity in the convenient sample size. University students may have a particular mindset on information technology. Consequently, it was difficult to obtain a more diverse view on the study. Moreover, despite obtaining results that were similar to previous studies, the sample size was not a representative one. The small sample size offered limited information on the topic. The study did not cover some aspects that may have influenced the participants use of social media, such as employment or income. Therefore, a large and diverse population would be more appropriate for future studies on the topic.ConclusionAn outcome of this pilot research showed that due to the dynamics of social media, it is essential for food safety companies to use intelligence, sufficient resources, as well as good ideas to attain success in recalling bad food. The food agencies require having a strategy that offers a specific alertness in the use of social media information. For instance, the agencies may create their social media groups to manage the network and avoid misinformation. It would be important to form good relationships that are built on trust with the social media users. Furthermore, using hash tags when recalling food would help improve the spreading of the word. Agencies could as well collaborate with distributors, suppliers, grocers, manufacturers, restaurants and businesses that have websites to recall food products from a market, enabling better creation of trust. Consequently, using social media as part of the structured communication strategy would help improve the food and safety agencies.ReferencesCollier, M. (2011). The last-ditch online customer service guide How to connect with your customers to sell more. Hoboken, N.J. Wiley.Consumers Union. (2013). Call for FDA review Good News for consumers. Consumers Union, 2013.Deasy, D. J. (2012). Food safety and assurance The role of information technology. 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