Food safety knowledge as gateway to cognitive illusions of food handlers and the different degrees of risk perception

Restaurant workers, whether aware of this or not, may be responsible for spreading Foodborne Diseases (FBD) to consumers. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how the knowledge of the risk of FBD can become a gateway to risk perception and cognitive illusions, and how the habitus acts in guiding work practices. The research uses a mixed-methods design with qualitative approach. A study was conducted in six food services during 42 days, which had participatory observation as central method. A Risk Perception Scale and a Locus of Control Questionnaire were applied, helping to obtain data relative to cognitive illusions. It was identified that in the absence of food safety knowledge, risk was not identified by the workers and the action was conditioned by the habitus or by the constructions of common sense, while in the presence of knowledge, although shallow, risk was perceived and cognitive illusions emerged. A relationship between the many years of work, inefficient training and the protection granted by objects in the presence of cognitive illusions is discussed. Workers who do not possess scientific knowledge need to go through consistent training that, beyond biological and hygiene-related content, encompass concepts interwoven with risk perception and the habitus. [Display omitted] •Mixed-methods design was used to comprehend risk perception and cognitive illusions.•Superficial knowledge of food safety can be a gateway to cognitive illusions.•Optimistic bias, illusion of control and external locus of control were identified.•Restaurant workers' practices were guided by the habitus and common sense.•Social incorporation allows correct and incorrect apprehension of sanitary knowledge.