Asymmetry in food safety information – the case of the 2018 Listeriosis outbreak and low-income, urban consumers in Gauteng, South Africa

Abstract

This study considered the efficiency with which food safety information is received and retained by low-income consumers in South Africa. Primary data from 110 low-income, urban, food consumers around Gauteng were collected and analysed with a willingness to pay (WTP) experiment and a proportional odds model. The study found that initially, 47% of the respondents claimed to know what Listeriosis is. Data validation, and a WTP experiment, however, suggest that there is social acceptability response bias. The proportional odds model further showed that education level is significant in explaining the level of food safety knowledge, but income is not. These results serve as an approximation of the degree of information asymmetry between low-income, urban food consumers and the South African government.