Conhecimento e aceitação sobre alimentos irradiados: um estudo de campo em supermercados de Teresina-PI

Abstract

Introduction. Food irradiation is physical treatment with the use of ionizing radiations in foods with the purpose of reducing or eliminating the microbial load of foods and increasing their shelf life, besides representing greater food safety. Objective. This research aims to verify the acceptance and knowledge of consumers about irradiated foods, as well as looking for factors that may interfere with positive or negative acceptance. Justification. This research shows its relevance for knowing the consumer and their socioeconomic situation and the possible influence of this condition for the acceptance of irradiated foods, besides providing data that can be used that can be used to help in the development of the technology. Methods. Form was applied with consumers of supermarkets in Teresina-PI city. Data were tabulated, analyzed by descriptive statistics, and by frequency of variables. For statistical analysis, the Pearson correlation coefficient (r) was used with p-value = 0.005. Results. It was verified that most of the population (60.8%) have higher education, but only 7.8% say they know some irradiated food. And practically all the researched ones (98%) think important educational campaigns to guide the population about irradiation of food. Conclusion. It was possible to observe that consumers know little about irradiated foods and that few would consume them, but most of them change sides when knowing the benefits of this technology. In this case, the information, or lack thereof, is a determining factor in the consumer's behavior towards foods treated with ionizing radiations.