A freshly sliced sandwich meat from the deli counter can feel more personal than a sealed package pulled from the refrigerator case. It may look less processed, more carefully prepared and closer to something made just for you.
But a new peer-reviewed study suggests that instinct can create a food-safety blind spot. In two online experiments with 344 U.S. consumers, researchers found that shoppers tended to view hand-sliced deli meat as more appealing than prepackaged deli meat, even though extra handling can create more opportunities for contamination.
The study, published in the International Journal of Hospitality Management, did not test deli meat for bacteria or measure actual illness risk. Instead, it examined how people respond to the idea of “handmade” food and whether food-safety information changes their purchase intentions.
“We noticed that consumers generally prefer handmade food or hand-sliced deli meat and automatically assume that it is more cared for, more authentic and has better quality,” said Lavi Peng, assistant professor of hospitality and tourism management in the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst. “But from a food-safety perspective, hand preparation doesn’t always mean the food is better.”
That does not mean shoppers need to avoid deli counters entirely. It means that food safety isn’t always visible. A food that looks fresh or handmade may still depend on careful temperature control, clean equipment, safe storage and proper handling.
In the first experiment, participants viewed either hand-sliced deli meat prepared in a grocery store or factory-sliced, prepackaged deli meat. They rated how appealing the products were and how likely they would be to buy them. Then they were shown food-safety information explaining that meat sliced at a deli counter has been associated with substantially higher listeriosis risk than prepackaged deli meat, partly because additional handling can create more chances for contamination.
After seeing that information, participants became less enthusiastic about the hand-sliced option. But the safety information did not automatically make the standard prepackaged option more appealing.
“We thought that once we told participants that the hand-sliced deli meat might be risky, they would automatically perceive the safer option as more attractive,” Peng said. “But that’s not the case. The appeal of the prepackaged option didn’t increase.”
That finding matters because food choices often happen quickly. Shoppers may not stop to research how a product was handled, how long it has been stored or who may be most vulnerable to a foodborne illness. Instead, they rely on cues that feel intuitive. Handmade can signal care, freshness and quality, even when those cues do not necessarily say much about safety.
In the second experiment, researchers changed the way the prepackaged deli meat was presented. The redesigned packaging included “human care” cues, such as a farmer’s image and messaging that emphasized careful preparation. After receiving the same food-safety information, participants rated the redesigned prepackaged product as more appealing and reported stronger purchase intentions than they did for either standard prepackaged deli meat or hand-sliced deli meat.
The researchers suggest that consumers may not be looking for human touch itself as much as they are looking for signs of care, attention and trustworthiness. In other words, safer options may be easier to accept when they do not feel sterile, impersonal or lower quality.
That takeaway could be useful for both food companies and public health communicators. Food-safety messages may be more effective when they do more than warn people about risk. They may also need to explain why a safer option is still fresh, appealing and carefully prepared.
The study focused on deli meat because it is a ready-to-eat food with well-documented safety concerns related to Listeria, a bacterium that can cause serious illness in some people. Listeriosis is especially concerning for pregnant people, adults 65 and older, newborns and people with weakened immune systems. For those groups, food-safety guidance around deli meats and other ready-to-eat foods can be especially important.
The findings may also apply to other foods where shoppers often associate visible preparation with higher quality, including sushi, prepared salads and street foods. Still, the study does not show that all hand-prepared foods are unsafe or that all packaged foods are risk-free.
“Consumers are unlikely to research every product before making a quick purchase,” Peng said. “That means safety information needs to be visible at the point of sale, but marketers also need to make the safer option feel appealing, trustworthy and cared for.”
The authors declared that they had no conflicts of interest related to the research, authorship or publication of the study. They also stated that they had no financial, personal or professional relationships that could inappropriately influence or bias the content and findings, including employment, consultancy, stock ownership, honoraria, patent applications, grants or other financial interests.