Publication
Food fraud conceptualization: an exploratory study with Portuguese consumers
| datacite.subject.fos | Ciências Agrárias | |
| datacite.subject.fos | Engenharia e Tecnologia | |
| datacite.subject.sdg | 12:Produção e Consumo Sustentáveis | |
| dc.contributor.author | Costa, Maria João | |
| dc.contributor.author | Sousa, Isabel | |
| dc.contributor.author | Moura, Ana Pinto de | |
| dc.contributor.author | Teixeira, José A. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Cunha, Luís Miguel | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-02-10T17:37:47Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-02-10T17:37:47Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2024 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Food fraud refers to deceptive practices conducted for economic gain, and incidents of such fraud are often reported in the media and scientific literature. However, little is known about how European consumers perceive food fraud. To address this gap, a study explored Portuguese consumers' knowledge and perceptions of food fraud using qualitative methods such as free word association and semi‐structured interviews. For this research, 340 participants were recruited, providing 911 valid words, classified into categories, major categories, and dimensions. Differences between consumers' previous exposure to food fraud and sociodemographic characteristics were explored. Additionally, other thirty‐six participants were selected and interviewed, following a semi‐structured guide. Interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed using a thematic analysis procedure. The results suggest that Portuguese consumers view food fraud as a morally reprehensible deception and are aware of its causes and impacts. However, not all consumers know the different forms of food fraud or the types of products vulnerable to fraud. Among the most repeated words were “deception”, “expiration date”, and “falsification”. Despite this food fraud awareness, most consumers believed they were not exposed to food fraud and stated that they do not conduct daily practices to reduce exposure to it. Following the chi‐square and Mann‐Whitney tests, significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) were identified between participants exposed and not exposed to food fraud. The study also found that consumers with higher education and self‐reported exposure to food fraud had a better understanding of the issue. This study provides insights for quantitative research on consumer perceptions and beliefs about food fraud to explore further vulnerable food categories and types of food fraud in real‐world scenarios. | eng |
| dc.description.sponsorship | Authors acknowledge financial support from National Funds from FCT‐Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia within the scope of UIDB/05748/2020 − https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDB/05748/2020 and UIDP/05748/2020 (GreenUPorto). The funding source was not involved in conducting the research and/or preparing the article. | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Costa, M. J., Sousa, I., Moura, A. P., Teixeira, J. A., & Cunha, L. M. (2024). Food fraud conceptualization: an exploratory study with Portuguese consumers. Journal of Food Protection, 100301.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfp.2024.100301 | |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.1016/j.jfp.2024.100301 | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 0362-028X | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/19504 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | |
| dc.peerreviewed | yes | |
| dc.publisher | International Association for Food Protection | |
| dc.relation | GreenUPorto - Research Center in Sustainable Agri-food Production | |
| dc.rights.uri | N/A | |
| dc.subject | Consumer perception | |
| dc.subject | Food fraud | |
| dc.subject | Free word association | |
| dc.subject | Qualitative methods | |
| dc.subject | Semi‐structured interviews | |
| dc.title | Food fraud conceptualization: an exploratory study with Portuguese consumers | por |
| dc.type | journal article | |
| dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
| oaire.awardTitle | GreenUPorto - Research Center in Sustainable Agri-food Production | |
| oaire.awardURI | info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDB%2F05748%2F2020/PT | |
| oaire.citation.title | Journal of Food Protection | |
| oaire.fundingStream | 6817 - DCRRNI ID | |
| oaire.version | http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85 | |
| person.familyName | Moura | |
| person.givenName | Ana Pinto de | |
| person.identifier | R-000-0Z4 | |
| person.identifier.ciencia-id | EE1F-27E6-C356 | |
| person.identifier.orcid | 0000-0001-9197-8183 | |
| person.identifier.rid | D-6395-2013 | |
| person.identifier.scopus-author-id | 51161546800 | |
| project.funder.identifier | http://doi.org/10.13039/501100001871 | |
| project.funder.name | Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | |
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| relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery | b1210435-fc7f-46ac-a4e7-d12dec22a394 | |
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