Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 11
Retail Food Safety Risks for Populations
of Different Races, Ethnicities,
and Income Levels
Jennifer J. Quinlan
11.1
Introduction
Research in Public Health and Nutrition over the past decade has demonstrated
differential retail food access for populations of different demographics. In general,
populations of low socioeconomic status (SES) as well as minority racial and ethnic
populations tend to have less access to supermarkets but greater access to corner
markets and small independently owned grocery stores (Moore and Diez Roux
2006
; Zenk et al.
2005
; Hilmers et al.
2012
). This research has been conducted pri-
marily to better understand the nutritional quality of retail food available to these
vulnerable populations and therefore possibly understand underlying causes of
higher rates of obesity and related chronic diseases. This area of research has gener-
ally found that the nutritional quality of food available in corner markets and small
grocery stores is lower than that found in supermarkets with fewer fruits, vegeta-
bles, and healthy food choices available (Zenk et al.
2006
; Baker et al.
2006
). The
term “food desert” has emerged to describe a geographic area which has limited
access to healthy foods. Since 2009 the US Department of Agriculture has released
multiple reports (Ver Ploeg et al.
2009
; Dutko et al.
2012
) identifying and character-
izing food deserts and in 2011 the Food Marketing Institute issued a report on
opportunities and challenges for food retailers in underserved areas (Food Marketing
Institute
2011
). While this topic of differential food access has gained attention and
scrutiny from the perspective of nutrition, health equity, and business opportunities,
none of the aforementioned reports address food safety or sanitation, despite the
fact that they revolve around retail food access. Research is only beginning to
emerge examining whether this differential retail food access results in food which
