Reporting Foodborne Illnesses: Why are consumers reluctant to report?

Three focus groups with individuals recruited from populations of towns in Iowa as part of a university-state agency collaborative project were conducted with the aim of improving foodborne illness reporting. A mixed methods approach was used; participants completed a survey questionnaire prior to the focus group discussion.
Of the 35 participants, the majority were female (74.3%); between ages of 50 – 64 years (28.6%); had annual incomes less than $25,000 (37%); and had private insurance from employer (39%). About a third of participants were very concerned about safety of food prepared away from home (31.4%). Participants identified better quality control (27%), better consumer education (22%), and more inspections (16%) as the best approaches to reducing risk of food poisoning.

Due to intentional recruitment of those who had experienced food poisoning, twelve (34.3%) participants indicated an illness from something eaten in the past three months, yet only one sought medical treatment. Thirty two (91.4%) participants indicated they had gotten sick from something they ate as an adult, with eleven seeking medical treatment and various treatments identified. As an adult, 16% of the participants had been asked to provide a stool sample; five (14.3%) of the participants were diagnosed with food poisoning through a stool sample.

Several themes emerged from focus group discussions. All participants experienced some symptom of food poisoning; however, the majority did not report because they did not know who or how to report it, were unsure if they were sick due to food poisoning, or they felt that it would do no good to report. Participants offered ideas on how to get information about reporting to consumers including toll-free telephone number, internet, media, and posting signs at restaurants. Participants felt strongly that knowing someone cared, would listen, would do something, and would be held accountable would make it easier for them to report food poisoning. Participants indicated some concerns with providing stool samples such as inconvenience, embarrassment, difficulty in handling the sample, and difficulty of collection (messy, proper equipment); yet also indicated they would be less concerned if they knew the stool would help identify what was wrong.