According to a recent study published in the academic journal Management Science, consumers are willing to disregard a restaurant’s poor health record if they believe the products and services are “authentic.” Inspiration for the study reportedly came from Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles in the 1980s that stored ducks by hanging them from their necks at room temperature. When the health department cited these places for health code violations, customers objected, saying that the method of cooking and storing ducks had been practiced for more than 4,000 years. Researchers wondered whether hygiene or authenticity is more significant to consumers when the two are at odds with one another, so they analyzed customer reviews of more than 9,700 restaurants in Los Angeles County posted online and the businesses’ health inspection reports. Authenticity can be very difficult to gauge, but to do so, the researchers gave scores based on certain keywords used in reviews. In comparing this score with the number of stars customers rated a restaurant and its health grade, the authors found that unhygienic but authentic restaurants were valued similarly to their hygienic counterparts. Consumers may have said some negative things about restaurants with low health grades, but they usually overlooked the hygiene issues when they thought authenticity was high.
The News Desk team at Food Safety News covers breaking developments, regulatory updates, recalls, and key topics shaping food safety today. These articles are produced collaboratively by our editorial staff.
The potential for bacteria to survive cleaning and disinfection means washing routines must be continuously assessed to maintain food safety, according to a scientist.
Thorben O. Reiche, from the Norwegian
Eating raw or undercooked beans poses a health risk because of the potential presence of lectins, according to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
The European Commission asked EFSA to
Ajinomoto Foods North America Inc. of Portland, OR, is recalling 3,370,530 pounds of frozen not ready-to-eat chicken fried rice after consumer compliments of glass in the products the
Mahrousa brand tahini is being recalled in Canada because of Salmonella contamination.
The implicated tahini is sold in jars with Arabic writing on the labels. The labels do not have
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has expanded a warning about oysters from Canada because of contamination with norovirus.
Previously the FDA warned of oysters harvested only on Dec.
As part of its enforcement activities, the Food and Drug Administration sends warning letters to entities under its jurisdiction. Some letters are not posted for public view until weeks or
