The Perception of Food Safety towards Local Foods: The Case of Mersin Tantuni

Abstract

Local food, which has been highlighted by consumers for reasons such as taste, freshness, diversity, less environmental impact, supporting the local economy and increasing food security, is increasing its popularity. This research focuses on the impact of the food safety perceptions of consumers towards local food purchase and also aims to determine whether the purchasing reason of Tantuni, a type of local food in Mersin province, has an impact on food safety perceptions. For this purpose, data were collected from 457 consumers who consume local food during February-March 2017 in Mersin province. By analyzing the data, four dimensions were obtained such as external factors, internal factors, ethnocentrism and business opportunities as the consumers' purchasing reasons of Tantuni. Consumers' perceptions of food safety towards Tantuni is determined as cooking and protection, personnel health, cleaning and hygiene, personal hygiene and cross contamination. The reason for consuming local food affects the perception of food safety at a moderate level (r=0,482; p=0.000, p<0.001). Only external factors and ethnocentrism which are the sub-dimensions related to the reasons for purchasing Tantuni, effect the perceptions of food safety.