Mykotoxine und Kindergesundheit
Elterliche Risikowahrnehmung und neue Ansätze für das Risikomanagement
Mycotoxins and child health
Parental risk perception and new risk management options
by Christine Niens
Date of Examination:2013-07-05
Date of issue:2014-03-20
Advisor:Prof. Dr. Rainer Marggraf
Referee:Prof. Dr. Rainer Marggraf
Referee:PD Dr. Micha Strack
Referee:Prof. Dr. Elke Pawelzik
Files in this item
Name:Diss_Niens_final_4_3_2014_FINAL_weboptimiert.pdf
Size:1.26Mb
Format:PDF
Abstract
English
Mycotoxins are naturally occurring mould toxins produced by fungi that often infect the crop in the field. One of the most frequently detected mycotoxin in cereals is deoxynivalenol (DON). In the European Union, mainly wheat and maize are contaminated by DON. The ingestion of mycotoxins from cereal products presents a risk to consumers´ health. For consumer protection, cereal products are subject to a legal regulation defining the maximum DON concentration [Commission Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006]. However, legislated maximum levels do not prevent all consumer groups from exceeding the acceptable total daily intake. Several scientific analyses have shown that particularly young children can ingest amounts of DON that are beyond the tolerable daily intake recommended by the Scientific Committee on Food. Thus, from a critical consumer's perspective the legal regulation of the mycotoxin risk appears to be inadequate. Against this background, a survey among parents was conducted in Lower Saxony, Germany, in 2012. In a first step, the parental risk perception of mycotoxins related to child health was measured using the Perceived Food Risk Index, a common scale to analyse the public perceptions of food risks. Furthermore, preferences for regulation and the parental willingness to pay for risk reduction were assessed using a discrete choice experiment and the contingent valuation method. In the questionnaire, two different options for a reduction of the mycotoxin risk for children were presented: a) Offering special cereal products which contain only an amount of mycotoxins that health risks for children can be excluded and b) Stricter mycotoxin limit values for all cereal products. The results showed that more than half of the parents in the survey believe that mycotoxins pose a serious health risk to their children. The risk perception of mycotoxins is characterised by two dimensions, namely “Dread” and “Control”, which are known from other food related studies. A positive relationship between parental risk estimates and the “Dread” dimension was found. In contrast, “Control” did not directly affect the parental risk estimates. Moreover, the respondents were of the opinion that their children's health is not adequately protected against mycotoxins by the current legal regulation. Accordingly, parents stated an additional willingness to pay for an improvement in consumer protection. In general, the respondents preferred stricter mycotoxin limit values for all cereal products instead of offering special cereal products with low mycotoxin levels. However, parents are also willing to pay a price premium for safer cereal products to avoid a health risk for their children due to mycotoxins.
Keywords: Consumer Protection; regulation; cost-benefit-analysis; contingent valuation method; discrete choice experiment; parental willingness to pay; Perceived Food Risk Index; food safety
Schlagwörter: Verbraucherschutz; Regulierung; Kosten-Nutzen-Analyse; Kontingente Bewertung; Discrete Choice Experiment; elterliche Zahlungsbereitschaft; Perceived Food Risk Index; Lebensmittelsicherheit