| Abstract: |
Food safety remains a pressing global public health concern. The
World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about 600 million
people fall ill every year from contaminated food, and that 420,000
of them die. World Food Safety Day (WFSD), observed every 7 June
since the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution
73/250 in 2018, mobilises action for food safety across the food
chain, and its campaign messages are designed to move people
towards safer food handling and consumption. Yet little empirical
evidence shows whether exposure to these messages changes how
Nigerian undergraduates actually eat. This study investigated the
influence of exposure to WFSD campaign messages on the adoption
of safe food consumption culture among undergraduates in South
East Nigeria. A survey design with multi-stage sampling was used:
400 questionnaires were distributed in three federal universities and
396 (99.0%) were returned, from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka
(n = 187); University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus (n = 99); and Alex
Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike (n = 110). Key
informant interviews with 15 purposively selected participants
(student health committee representatives, university health centre
officers, campus food vendors and nutrition or public health
lecturers) complemented the survey. Five research questions guided
the study, and data were analysed with frequencies, percentages,
mean scores, Pearson correlation and chi-square, and presented in
figures. Exposure to WFSD messages was moderate, with social
media (18.9%) and WhatsApp (15.2%) as the leading main
channels, and personal hygiene (13.9%) and the dangers of
contamination (12.9%) as the most encountered content. Adoption
of safe food consumption culture was largely moderate (42.9%).
Exposure was positively and significantly related to adoption (r =
.648, p < .001). The study recommends year-round, multi-channel
WFSD campaigns that are embedded in the life of university
communities.
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