Knowledge and attitudes of selected home ecnomists toward irradiation in food preservation

Preservation of food with ionizing radiation treatment offers many benefits to consumers. Among other factors, the lack of certainty of the acceptance of this process by the public has slowed its commercial use in the U.S. Since home economists deal with food-related issues, it is likely that they will be asked questions by the public about this process. This project was designed to obtain information using a survey method about the knowledge and attitudes of selected California home economists toward the use of irradiation to preserve food. The information was used to determine whether a need existed to provide education about the irradiation process to these professionals. The survey revealed that these home economists lacked knowledge about the irradiation process, although they had a positive attitude toward it and desired to learn more about it. Based on these findings, a 90-minute statewide teleconference was conducted and viewed by more than 300 home economists and other interested professionals. Descriptive and inferential statistical methods were used to analyze the data. Results revealed that (a) knowledge of and a positive attitude toward food irradiation increased as a result of participation in the teleconference, (b) the information provided was helpful, and (c) the objectives of the teleconference were met. This project should be replicated using a nationwide sample of home economists to obtain information about the knowledge and attitudes of a wide range of home economists about food irradiation and, if a need is demonstrated, a nationwide teleconference should be conducted