The aim of the study was to evaluate the reproducibility of the Dietary Habits and Nutrition Beliefs Questionnaire (KomPAN) in Polish adolescents and adults, including the assessment of indexes developed based on the questionnaire. In total, the study involved 954 subjects aged 15–65 (53.9% females). Interviews using the interviewer-administered questionnaire (IA-Q) in healthy subjects (n 299) and the self-administered questionnaire (SA-Q) in healthy subjects (n 517) and outpatients (n 138) were conducted and repeated after two weeks. Considering the consumption frequency of 33 food items, the cross-classification (test-retest) agreement of classification into the same category obtained for IA-Q in healthy subjects ranged from 72.2% (fruit juices) to 91.6% (energy drinks); the kappa statistic was >0.60 for all food items. For SA-Q conducted in healthy subjects the cross-classification agreement ranged from 63.8% (vegetable oils, margarines, mixes of butter and margarines) to 84.7% (lard); the kappa statistic was >0.50 for all food items. For SA-Q in outpatients, the cross-classification agreement ranged from 42.0% (both fruit juices and white rice, white pasta, fine-ground groats) to 92.0% (energy drinks); the kappa statistic was ≥0.40 for 20/33 food items. The kappa statistic for lifestyle items ranged 0.42–0.96, and for the nutrition knowledge level it ranged 0.46–0.73. The questionnaire showed moderate to very good reproducibility and can be recommended to assess dietary habits, lifestyle and nutrition knowledge of healthy adolescents and adults and those suffering from chronic diseases, after validation and/or calibration study is carried out. The reproducibility of the interviewer-administered questionnaire was better than its self-administered version. The reproducibility of the self-administered questionnaire was better in healthy subjects than in outpatients.

The present study aimed to investigate whether trust in circulating information and perceived stress are predictors of consumers’ fear of limited access to food as well as predictors of food purchase behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. The computer-assisted web interviewing (CAWI) technique was used to collect data from 1033 Polish adults in March 2020. Logistic regression was used to estimate the likelihood of fear of limited access to food and the likelihood of purchase of larger amounts of food than usual. The likelihood of experiencing fear of limited access to food increased by 16% with higher perceived stress, by 50% with higher trust in “Mass media and friends”, and by 219% with perceived changes in food availability in the previous month. Trust in “Polish government institutions” decreased the chance of experiencing such fears by 22%. The likelihood of purchasing larger quantities of food than usual increased by 9% with higher perceived stress, by 46% with higher trust in “Mass media and friends”, by 81% with perceived changes in food availability in the last month, and by 130% with fears of limited access to food as the pandemic spreads. Government institutions may have difficulty in disseminating pandemic-related recommendations through media, not only due to relatively low trust people have in media organizations but also due to the increasing likelihood of the occurrence of both fears regarding food availability and panic-stricken food-buying behaviors with increase in trust in this source of information. Therefore, it is necessary to develop interventions that will reduce perceived stress and improve the trust in information from reputable sources.

Food neophobia (FN) is associated with reduced quality of diet in adults; thus, the understanding of the relationship between FN and food consumption in more depth appears to be a key issue. The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between food neophobia, dietary patterns, food choice motives, and food label reading in the group of adults. Data were collected using the computer-assisted personal interviewing technique (CAPI). A cross-sectional quantitative survey was carried out in November–December 2017 in a sample of 1017 Polish adults. The questionnaire used in the study included the Food Neophobia Scale (FNS), the Beliefs and Eating Habits Questionnaire (KomPAN), and questions regarding food choice motives, reading food labels, and sociodemographic characteristics. The food neophobics were older, had a lower level of education, and had higher BMI compared to others. Compared to others, among the food neophobics, there were more people who often consumed vegetables, fruit, meat, and meat products and who rarely consumed functional and convenience food, sweets, and sweetened beverages. When choosing food, more food neophobics chose healthy and tasteless food products, while more food neophilics chose unhealthy and tasty products. More food neophobics declared not reading price and shelf-life information on food labels compared to the other two groups. Although food neophobia may make adaptation to dietary recommendations difficult, health-promoting features of the diet were observed within the food neophobics. Actions focusing on food choice motives may help even more to limit the effects of food neophobia in adults. Further research is recommended to confirm the observed relationships under different sociocultural conditions.

Game meat is constantly present on the European meat market, but a limited number of consumers are interested in its consumption. Considering the unique features of wild animal meat, we should explore what pushes consumers to include it in their diet. To identify the motives determining the choice of game meat, a quantitative survey based on the computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) method was conducted among 450 participants. The statistical analysis based on the logistic regression model allowed us to assess the significance of emotional motives leading to game eating and to investigate the importance of the rational motives related to the quality attributes of game for consumers. It was shown that rational motives influence the consumers’ choice more than emotional factors, while the most important motives are connected with healthcare issues. Consumers, for whom the crucial attributes of quality are taste, nutritional value, and low fat content, constitute a group that might more often include game in their diet in the future. Among the emotional motives, the familiarity, described as a feeling of knowing the product, also has a statistically significant impact on the consumers’ choice. The results obtained may be useful for academic theoreticians and market experts as well.