Pollution,food safety,and the distribution of knowledge

Human perceptions of the relationship between pollution and food safety are often haphazard and contradictory, based on a variety of sources of information. Recent media events concerning seafood and coastal pollution have generated concern that an otherwise healthy food— fish and shellfish—has become dangerous. We assess consumer knowledge about seafood safety and coastal pollution using several methods, including tests of cultural consensus. We find that consumers view seafood as far more threatened by pollution than scientific analysis suggests, due in part to their perceptions about the dynamics of the marine environment. Finding variation in perceptions within our population based on income and other factors, we explore the use of the cultural consensus approach in large and heterogeneous populations.