Food safety in the home is a key focus of the Foodborne Disease Strategy for 2010–2015, which aims to reduce incidents of foodborne disease. In 2008 the Agency’s Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food (ACMSF) and the Social Science Research Committee (SSRC) made a number of recommendations; one SSRC recommendation included carrying out a study to examine food-safety behaviours in the home, focusing on ‘actual’ rather than reported behaviours.
Kitchen Life is part of a package of research that has since been commissioned by the FSA. The study used a range of qualitative methods, which included a participant-led kitchen tour, observation, video observation and informal interviews, to investigate practices in the kitchens of 20 UK households.
The research provides a number of new insights into how people use their kitchen spaces, including the range of food and non-food activities carried out in domestic kitchens, some of which have the potential to influence the ability of consumers to achieve effective food safety in the home.
The full study and findings can be found at the link below.