Knowledge and Attitude on Buying Safety Pork for Consumers

Abstract

Background: Pork is an important meat ingredient because most people consume it. Consumers prefer to buy pork with a red color since they believed that the pork is fresh. This caused some groups of pig farmers to inject Ractopamine or beta-agonist to pigs which it was a prohibited substance used in animal feed. Whether the human body is exposed to these red meat accelerator chemicals, it can cause health problems. Hence, this study aimed to assess the level of knowledge and attitude regarding buy safety pork among consumers.

Objectives: To assess knowledge and attitude towards buying safe pork and to study factors that influence consumers’ attitudes.

Methods: This study was a survey research. Data were collecting with the Google Form online questionnaire during October-November 2022. Sample group aged between 18 and 60 years old who lived in Bangkok, Thailand, and accessed the internet. The number of samples was set at 345 with a 95% confidence level; a total of 710 samples were collected. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics including frequency, mean, percentage, and standard deviation, as well as inferential statistic by multiple regression analysis.

Result: In the 710 respondents, a majority were female (59.0%), aged 40–49 years old (38.3%), were full-time employees (36.2%), had a monthly household income of more than 35,000 baht (49.9%), had a family of 4-6 people (51.5%), and had a family of 4-6 people (50.4%). Sources that bought pork found that most of them buy pork at supermarkets. 52.3% of the most frequently purchased pork was red meat 20.7%. When studying the knowledge score on buying safe pork, it was found to be in the middle level, averaging 3.80 out of 5. The top two most correct questions were knowledge about buying safe fresh pork and being aware of contaminants that may accompany pork, with 91.97% and 81.27% answered correctly, respectively. But the least correctly answered question is red meat accelerators and their health hazards. 66.62%. The next issue was that the study of attitudes towards buying safe pork found that the average intermediate level was 18.62 units in total of 25. The subjects paid more attention to the characteristics of the pork, such as flexibility and no bruising, than the colour of fresh pork. Statistically significant factors that predict attitudes towards safe pork selection are monthly family income and the number of times to buy fresh pork per week, with a p-value of <0.05.

Conclusion: The subjects living in Bangkok had knowledge and attitudes towards buying pork at an intermediate level. Knowledge of red meat accelerators and health hazards was still unknown, including factors such as monthly family income and where to buy pork most often. Therefore, public relations should be done to educate more people and promote safe buying.