The need for effective risk communication is becoming
increasingly recognised by many Governments and the food
industry. Although risk communication of food safety issues is
still in its infancy, much can be learned from past experience.
The European Food Information Council (EUFIC) aims to enhance
communication between Government, the food industry and
consumers. In this context EUFIC has started analysing how risk
was communicated during the recent acrylamide food scare and has
identified a number of lessons for the future. This paper
provides an introduction to the subject, using the acrylamide
alarm as a case study. Although the principles are based on this
particular case study, many of them can be considered as general
principles for risk communication. Risk communication is never
easy. For over 30 years academics and practitioners have worked
to develop a formula for risk communication and a practical tool
for predicting how the public perceives risk. By and large, they
have bot been successful to date