Social Science in the Food Domain

Peoples' health is affected by the foods they eat.  However, available foods are constantly changing - not only in terms of their type, but in terms of how such foods are processed, produced, packaged, stored, and so on. 

Whenever a new food is introduced, there may be risks as well as benefits.  Whether people choose to eat new foods depends in part on how they perceive the risk-benefit trade-offs.  It is important to understand the psychological, social and environmental factors that affect how people perceive risks, so that we can encourage people to eat appropriate foods to enhance their health (or at least, avoid harmful foods, ingredients, processes and practices). 

In the past, methods to try to convince people to eat appropriately have faced a number of problems, and there is a need to develop better methods to communicate (risk and benefit) information about food. 

Our research has two parts:

• one is aimed at better understanding why people think as they do about risks;
• one is aimed at finding ways to communicate risk information better. 

If we are successful, we can help the science and policy community to significantly improve the health of people through affecting their dietary choices.

Further information is available on the IFR Consumer Science website.

Research Leader

Gene Rowe