Communicating with Consumers: How to Talk about Food Risk

In Europe today, our food is arguably safer and more accessible than ever before. Despite this, there appears to be an increasing lack of public confidence in the food supply. A proactive approach to communicating about food would help to reassure the public about its safety, restore consumers’ trust in the authorities charged with regulating it, and help people understand how to eat safely and healthily. This presentation will introduce a recent publication from the European Food Information Council “How to talk about food risk”, a practical handbook that aims to guide communicators through a sequential step-by-step process for developing and implementing a proper risk communication strategy. This includes a systematic evaluation of the risk, the environment, and a self-analysis of the communicator; tools for understanding audiences and developing targeted messages and content; communication channel selection; and the importance of monitoring public response.