Author(s)

Alé Kane^1,2*, Hamidou Mbodji², Papa Mamadou Dit Doudou Sylla^1,2, Alioune Sow^1,2, Abdoulaye Tamba³, Malick Mbengue³, Mady Cissé³

¹Laboratory of Biological, Agronomic and Food Sciences and Complex Systems Modelling (LABAAM), University Gaston Berger (UGB), Saint-Louis, Senegal.
²UFR of Agronomic Sciences, Aquaculture and Food Technology (UFR S2ATA), UGB Saint-Louis, Senegal.
³Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Biology, University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar, Dakar, Senegal.

Food safety has become a major concern for consumers, as well as a priority for regulatory authorities. Faced with the growing industrial and domestic use of food additives, many questions are being asked and concerns are being felt by consumers around the world. Consumer perception defines the acceptability or rejection of food products, and has an impact on consumption patterns and behavior. To assess the level of knowledge and perception of food additives, a pilot study was carried out on a sample of 200 people in Dakar and Saint-Louis. A questionnaire was used to assess the acceptance or rejection, use and impact of food additives by consumers in Senegal. The results revealed several aspects. On the whole, the people surveyed expressed great mistrust and even rejection of these substances added to food products. This consumer perception is shared throughout the world, as indicated in numerous surveys. It also emerges from this study that, although most consumers are aware of the existence of these additives and their uses in the home, they feel that the use of these substances in industrial production is too excessive. What’s more, consumers associate food additives with numerous pathologies such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension, stroke and even sexual impotence. For some of these indexed pathologies, scientific studies have reached the same conclusions, although controversy still persists. On the other hand, for some of the other adverse effects mentioned, no cause-and-effect relationship has been scientifically demonstrated. In these latter cases, it seems that negative communication, misinformation and misconceptions have a major influence on consumer perception of food additives.

Consumer Survey, Food Additives, Knowledge, Perception, Senegal

Kane, A. , Mbodji, H. , Sylla, P. , Sow, A. , Tamba, A. , Mbengue, M. and Cissé, M. (2024) Consumers’ Perception and Knowledge of Food Additives in Senegal: A Pilot Study. Open Journal of Applied Sciences, 14, 38-50. doi: 10.4236/ojapps.2024.141003.