Role of Food Safety Risk Perception and Attitude on Knowledge and Practice of Adult Consumers in Bangladesh: A Serial Mediation Model

ABSTRACT This study aimed to determine the serial mediation effects of behavior‐specific risk perception (BRP) and attitude (ATT) toward food safety on the relationship between food safety knowledge (FSK) and self‐reported practice (FSP) among adult consumers in Bangladesh. This study conducted a cross‐sectional survey on cross‐contamination, safe storage, and cooking toward food safety among 503 consumers who handled food at home. The serial mediation effects were examined by using Hayes' PROCESS macro‐Model 6 for SPSS. The results showed that BRP partially mediated the relationship between FSK and FSP independently (Effect = 0.175, 95% CI: 0.114 to 0.243). BRP was significantly positively associated with ATT (Effect = 1.28, p < 0.001) and FSP (Effect = 0.532, p < 0.001), forming a serial mediation pathway (Effect = 0.065, 95% CI: 0.037 to 0.099). The total indirect effect of all mediation paths accounted for 50% of the total effect of food safety knowledge on food safety practice.