Conflicts, informality and risk perception about foodborne diseases in small family and non-family run restaurants

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to analyze the risk perception of foodborne disease, practices, and conflicts related to food safety based on the speech of food handlers and managers of small and medium-sized (SMS) family and non-family-run restaurants. Ten restaurants were evaluated through participant observation, where food handlers and managers participated in in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using a qualitative approach of thematic content analysis. Several violations of food safety laws were observed, mainly in family-run restaurants, which exhibited a higher number of violations when compared to non-family run restaurants. Cognitive aspects, such as optimistic bias and low-risk perception, were identified in the speech of respondents from both types of restaurants. Informality and amateurism were observed in family-run restaurants; Some examples of this were transforming the work environment into the home environment, use of home leftovers in restaurants, conflicts between workers and family members, and lack of. Our results show that nepotism could lead to informality, reduce risk perceptions, and increase the risk of food safety violations. In family-run restaurants, the difficulty of following food safety regulations may be greater than in non-family SMS restaurants. It is suggested that managers and owners of family-run restaurants seek professional support regarding food safety. For policy-makers it is recommended a policy to encourage self-evaluation and special attention to this type of business.

KEYWORDS:

• Qualitative research
• small restaurants
• family business
• Brazil

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the financial support from Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) – financing code 36P-4781/2018, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPQ) in Brazil (process nº 403528/2016-0), and Espaço da Escrita - UNICAMP, for the translation. This study was partially funded by CAPES, financial code 001.

Disclosure statement

No potential competing interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Farofa is typically Brazilian dish of toasted cassava or corn flour mixture with vegetables and meat.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico [403528/2016-0]; Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior [Finance Code 001]; Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior [36P-4781/2018].