Public Response to the 2006 Recall of Contaminated Spinach - Microbial Safety of Fresh Produce - page 359

defi nitely “false” that the spinach recall was still in effect and 14% said that it was
“ likely false. ”

Many Think Spinach Is Safer Now Than before the Recall
To examine perceptions of the threat of contracting a foodborne illness, respondents
were asked to rate the likelihood of becoming infected from eating “uncooked fresh
spinach” and “a food other than spinach” using a semantic differential scale where a
rating of 0 represented “not at all likely” and a rating of 10 represented “extremely
likely.” As represented in Figure 19.4, respondents who were aware of the recall
reported their likelihood of infection from eating fresh spinach before the recall to be
relatively low ( M = 2.86, SD = 2.94). Not surprisingly, respondents reported their
likelihood of infection from eating fresh spinach during the recall ( M = 5.09, SD = 3.24)
to be signifi cantly higher than before the recall ( t (954) = 0.001).

Respondents reported their likelihood of becoming infected at the time of the interview
(i.e., after the recall) ( M = 1.92, SD = 2.59) as signifi cantly lower on average than
during the recall ( t (965) = 28.32, p

− 21.71, p <

0.001).
Their estimates of the likelihood of infection resulting from eating fresh spinach
at the time of the interview were also signifi cantly lower than their estimates of likeli-
hood of infection prior to the recall ( t (953) = 8.88, p

<

0.001).
In comparison, the participants also estimated their likelihood of infection from
eating a food other than spinach at the time of the interview to be both low ( M = 2.95,
SD = 2.81) and nearly equivalent to their estimates of the likelihood of infection from
eating spinach prior to the recall. However, they estimated their current risks of
becoming infected as the result of eating spinach as signifi cantly lower than the current
risk posed by eating foods other than spinach ( t (956) =

<

0.001). Thus, they
viewed consumption of spinach after the recall as safer than eating other types of
foods.

− 9.64, p <

Most Americans Have or Will Eat Fresh Spinach Again
At the time of the interview, 44% of those who had heard about the recall and who
ate spinach prior to it reported that they had eaten spinach since the recall ended (see

Extremely likely

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

Not at all likely

Before During Right Now Other Food Now

Figure 19.4. Perceived likelihood of getting sick from consuming spinach.