IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i18p9463-d631430.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is “Wild” a Food Quality Attribute? Heavy Metal Content in Wild and Cultivated Sea Buckthorn and Consumers’ Risk Perception

Author

Listed:
  • Ruxandra Malina Petrescu-Mag

    (Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Babes-Bolyai University, 30 Fantanele Street, 400294 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
    Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, 2 Passage des Déportés, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium)

  • Iris Vermeir

    (Department of Marketing, Innovation and Organization, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
    BE4LIFE, Research Center on Sustainable, Healthy and Ethical Consumption, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium)

  • Carmen Roba

    (Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Babes-Bolyai University, 30 Fantanele Street, 400294 Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

  • Dacinia Crina Petrescu

    (Department of Marketing, Innovation and Organization, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
    Faculty of Business, Babes-Bolyai University, 7 Horea Street, 400174 Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

  • Nicoleta Bican-Brisan

    (Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Babes-Bolyai University, 30 Fantanele Street, 400294 Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

  • Ildiko Melinda Martonos

    (Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Babes-Bolyai University, 30 Fantanele Street, 400294 Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

Abstract

Globally, the consumption of herbal supplements is on an upward trend. As the food supplement industry thrives, so does the need for consumers’ awareness of health risks. This contribution is grounded on two assumptions. Firstly, not always “wild” is a food quality attribute, and secondly, the food chain is judged as a noteworthy route for human exposure to soil contamination. Sea buckthorn (SBT) was selected for investigation due to its versatility. In addition to its wide therapeutic uses, it is present in ecological rehabilitation which may raise concerns regarding its safety for human consumption as a consequence of the accumulation of contaminants in the plant. The study aims to discover if the objective contamination of SBT with toxic residues is congruent with people’s subjective evaluation of SBT consumption risk. A quantitative determination of heavy metals was performed by atomic absorption spectrometry. The metals abundance followed the sequence Fe > Cu > Zn > Mn > Cr > Ni > Pb > Cd. Quantitative data on consumers’ subjective risk evaluations were collected through an online survey on 408 Romanians. Binary logistic shows that the consumption of SBT is predicted by the perceived effect of SBT consumption on respondents’ health. The study confirms that the objective contamination of wild and cultivated SBT is in line with the perceived contamination risk. It is inferred that a joint effort of marketers, media, physicians, and pharmacists is needed to inform consumers about the risks and benefits of SBT consumption.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruxandra Malina Petrescu-Mag & Iris Vermeir & Carmen Roba & Dacinia Crina Petrescu & Nicoleta Bican-Brisan & Ildiko Melinda Martonos, 2021. "Is “Wild” a Food Quality Attribute? Heavy Metal Content in Wild and Cultivated Sea Buckthorn and Consumers’ Risk Perception," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-19, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:18:p:9463-:d:631430
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9463/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9463/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhaohui Yang & Krishna P. Paudel & Xiaowei Wen & Sangluo Sun & Yong Wang, 2020. "Food Safety Risk Information-Seeking Intention of WeChat Users in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-15, March.
    2. Kilchling, Petra & Hansmann, Ralf & Seeland, Klaus, 2009. "Demand for non-timber forest products: Surveys of urban consumers and sellers in Switzerland," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 294-300, July.
    3. Alexey A. Dudarev & Sveta Yamin-Pasternak & Igor Pasternak & Valery S. Chupakhin, 2019. "Traditional Diet and Environmental Contaminants in Coastal Chukotka I: Study Design and Dietary Patterns," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-15, February.
    4. Alexey A. Dudarev & Sveta Yamin-Pasternak & Igor Pasternak & Valery S. Chupakhin, 2019. "Traditional Diet and Environmental Contaminants in Coastal Chukotka IV: Recommended Intake Criteria," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-14, February.
    5. Alexey A. Dudarev & Valery S. Chupakhin & Sergey V. Vlasov & Sveta Yamin-Pasternak, 2019. "Traditional Diet and Environmental Contaminants in Coastal Chukotka II: Legacy POPs," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-21, February.
    6. Schroeder Ted C. & Tonsor Glynn T. & Pennings Joost M.E. & Mintert James, 2007. "Consumer Food Safety Risk Perceptions and Attitudes: Impacts on Beef Consumption across Countries," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 7(1), pages 1-29, December.
    7. Yaya Liang & Xiaoyun Yi & Zhi Dang & Qin Wang & Houmei Luo & Jie Tang, 2017. "Heavy Metal Contamination and Health Risk Assessment in the Vicinity of a Tailing Pond in Guangdong, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-17, December.
    8. Stefan Bojnec & Dacinia Crina Petrescu & Ruxandra Malina Petrescu-Mag & Carmen Valentina Radulescu, 2019. "Locally Produced Organic Food: Consumer Preferences," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 21(50), pages 209-209, February.
    9. Schulp, C.J.E. & Thuiller, W. & Verburg, P.H., 2014. "Wild food in Europe: A synthesis of knowledge and data of terrestrial wild food as an ecosystem service," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 292-305.
    10. Amit Kumar & Amit Kumar & Cabral-Pinto M.M.S. & Ashish K. Chaturvedi & Aftab A. Shabnam & Gangavarapu Subrahmanyam & Raju Mondal & Dipak Kumar Gupta & Sandeep K. Malyan & Smita S. Kumar & Shakeel A. K, 2020. "Lead Toxicity: Health Hazards, Influence on Food Chain, and Sustainable Remediation Approaches," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-33, March.
    11. Kyung Hwa Seo & Jee Hye Lee, 2021. "Understanding Risk Perception toward Food Safety in Street Food: The Relationships among Service Quality, Values, and Repurchase Intention," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-13, June.
    12. Zhen Wang & Jianguo Bao & Tong Wang & Haseeb Tufail Moryani & Wei Kang & Jin Zheng & Changlin Zhan & Wensheng Xiao, 2021. "Hazardous Heavy Metals Accumulation and Health Risk Assessment of Different Vegetable Species in Contaminated Soils from a Typical Mining City, Central China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-18, March.
    13. repec:aud:audfin:v:21:y:2019:i:50:p:209 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Alexey A. Dudarev & Valery S. Chupakhin & Sergey V. Vlasov & Sveta Yamin-Pasternak, 2019. "Traditional Diet and Environmental Contaminants in Coastal Chukotka III: Metals," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-17, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alexey A. Dudarev & Jon Oeyvind Odland, 2022. "Forty-Year Biomonitoring of Environmental Contaminants in Russian Arctic: Progress, Gaps and Perspectives," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-35, September.
    2. Alexey A. Dudarev & Sveta Yamin-Pasternak & Igor Pasternak & Valery S. Chupakhin, 2019. "Traditional Diet and Environmental Contaminants in Coastal Chukotka I: Study Design and Dietary Patterns," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-15, February.
    3. Shackleton, Charlie M. & de Vos, Alta, 2022. "How many people globally actually use non-timber forest products?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    4. Diaz-Balteiro, L. & Alfranca, O. & Voces, R. & Soliño, M., 2023. "Using google search patterns to explain the demand for wild edible mushrooms," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    5. Christoph Schunko & Christian R. Vogl, 2018. "Is the Commercialization of Wild Plants by Organic Producers in Austria Neglected or Irrelevant?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-14, October.
    6. Songhong Chen & Jian Ming Luo, 2023. "Understand Delegates Risk Attitudes and Behaviour: The Moderating Effect of Trust in COVID-19 Vaccination," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-18, February.
    7. Al Asyary & Al Fauzan Upe & Suyud Warno Utomo & Stefan Rakete & Stephan Bose-O’Reilly, 2024. "Metal Content of the Yellowtail Fish ( Caesio cuning ) Consumed by the Community in Boedingi, North Konawe, Indonesia: An Environmental Health Risk Assessment in the Mining Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-12, December.
    8. Dominika Mesinger & Aneta Ocieczek & Witold Kozirok & Tomasz Owczarek, 2023. "Attitudes of Young Tri-City Residents toward Game Meat in the Context of Food Neophobia and a Tendency to Look for Diversity in Food," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-22, February.
    9. Li, Shu-Chu Sarrina & Zeng, Huai-Kuan & Lo, Shih-Yu, 2024. "Adopting the risk information seeking and processing model to examine the impact of personality on vaccination intentions in Taiwan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 353(C).
    10. Živojinović, I. & Weiss, G. & Wilding, M. & Wong, J.L.G. & Ludvig, A., 2020. "Experiencing forest products – An innovation trend by rural entrepreneurs," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    11. Andy Felix Jităreanu & Mioara Mihăilă & Alexandru-Dragoș Robu & Florin-Daniel Lipșa & Carmen Luiza Costuleanu, 2022. "Dynamic of Ecological Agriculture Certification in Romania Facing the EU Organic Action Plan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-17, September.
    12. Jeferson Asprilla-Perea & José M. Díaz-Puente, 2019. "Importance of wild foods to household food security in tropical forest areas," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(1), pages 15-22, February.
    13. Dacinia Crina Petrescu & Iris Vermeir & Ruxandra Malina Petrescu-Mag, 2019. "Consumer Understanding of Food Quality, Healthiness, and Environmental Impact: A Cross-National Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-20, December.
    14. Rasmussen, Laura Vang & Mertz, Ole & Christensen, Andreas E. & Danielsen, Finn & Dawson, Neil & Xaydongvanh, Pheang, 2016. "A combination of methods needed to assess the actual use of provisioning ecosystem services," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 75-86.
    15. Zaiga Landorfa-Svalbe & Māra Vikmane & Gederts Ievinsh, 2022. "Vermicompost Amendment in Soil Affects Growth and Physiology of Zea mays Plants and Decreases Pb Accumulation in Tissues," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-18, December.
    16. Glynn T. Tonsor & Ted C. Schroeder & Joost M. E. Pennings, 2009. "Factors Impacting Food Safety Risk Perceptions," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(3), pages 625-644, September.
    17. Minsi Xiao & Shitong Xu & Bing Yang & Guangcong Zeng & Lidan Qian & Haiwei Huang & Sili Ren, 2022. "Contamination, Source Apportionment, and Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Farmland Soils Surrounding a Typical Copper Tailings Pond," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-15, November.
    18. Mariana Borcoman & Daniela Sorea, 2023. "Ethnic Soups from Rupea Area (Romania) as Resources for Sustainable Local Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-21, January.
    19. Ying Zhu & Xiaowei Wen & May Chu & Gongliang Zhang & Xuefan Liu, 2021. "Consumers’ Food Safety Risk Communication on Social Media Following the Suan Tang Zi Accident: An Extended Protection Motivation Theory Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-19, July.
    20. Monika Wróbel & Wojciech Śliwakowski & Paweł Kowalczyk & Karol Kramkowski & Jakub Dobrzyński, 2023. "Bioremediation of Heavy Metals by the Genus Bacillus," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-17, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:18:p:9463-:d:631430. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.