Title: Food safety scandals and their impacts on restaurant customers in Lebanon

Authors: Hanna Maalouf; Andre Azouri

Addresses: Tourism and Hotel Management Faculty, Lebanese University, Lebanon ' Tourism and Hotel Management Faculty, Lebanese University, Lebanon

Abstract: The purpose of this research is to study the impact of food safety campaign that was launched by the Lebanese Ministry of Health in 2014 on restaurant clients in Lebanon. First, the food safety concept was defined. Then, a questionnaire was distributed to 812 Lebanese nationals during their visit to one of the restaurants in the geographical area of the study. Findings revealed that there is a clear impact of spoiled food scandals on restaurant goers' behaviour and decisions and that independent restaurants are more affected by the food safety crisis than the ones affiliated to a chain. Moreover, media outlets and social media platforms play a key role in disseminating food safety scandals. The study resulted in many recommendations at the public sector level and the private sector level that need to be adopted in order to reduce the impact of food safety scandals on Lebanese restaurant sector.

Keywords: food safety; Lebanese restaurants; restaurant clients.

DOI: 10.1504/EMJM.2018.096443

EuroMed Journal of Management, 2018 Vol.2 No.4, pp.280 - 287

Received: 16 Sep 2017
Accepted: 25 Sep 2017

Published online: 03 Dec 2018 *

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