BfR Annual Report 2015

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body is supplied with all required nutrients. This can
take the form of both a deliberate decision to consume
certain foods and through supplementation. This is why
communication referring to vegan diet alternatives or
supplementation is fundamentally promising. The aim of
risk communication should be to provide concrete guide-
lines on how to counteract the risk of nutrient deficiency
for oneself or one's children without giving up a vegan
diet. The BfR study also reveals possible risk potentials
in other areas: every vaccine comes into contact with ani-
mal protein during the production process, for example,
and this can result in decision-making conflicts for those
following a vegan diet.
BfR Consumer Monitor
Consumers are a central target group of the BfR, which
is why it is important for the institute to know how the
themes it addresses are perceived by the public at large.
One question of particular importance concerns the
things that consumers are afraid of and the health risks
that they believe exist. How do they assess the safety of
foods, as well as of toys, cosmetics and textiles they can
buy in Germany? A further relevant factor is the level of
trust in the structures of consumer health protection, as
this in turn influences the perception of risks. Opinions,
perceptions and attitudes can change rapidly, however.
The topics that are of interest to the general public today
may already have been forgotten tomorrow or pushed
out of the public sphere by different issues.
Risk Communication
This is why the BfR launched the Consumer Monitor in
2014. The Consumer Monitor is a representative popula-
tion survey conducted at regular intervals to ascertain
the assessments of the public regarding selected issues
addressed by the BfR. This survey is supplemented by
representative surveys conducted by the BfR on individ-
ual issues that are of topical interest and that are pub-
lished as BfR Consumer Monitor Specials.
In the Consumer Monitor, the BfR has established a tool
that enables it to respond to the information and com-
munication needs of consumers faster than was previ-
ously the case and therefore to further underpin the con-
fidence of the public in consumer health protection. Two
issues of the Consumer Monitor were published in 2015,
including one “Special” on the topic of resistance to an-
tibiotics.
i All BfR Consumer Monitors published to date are
available at:
Facts and figures on press activities
4,019,185 visits to the BfR website
169,709 downloads of the BfR apps
“Poisoning Accidents Among Children”
and “Opinions”
86,718 delivered publications (brochures etc.)
22,013 views on the BfR YouTube channel and
BfR media library
7,639 subscribers to the BfR newsletter
4,523 mentions of the BfR in newspaper articles
1,318 inquiries from private citizens (in writing)
49 television interviews
BfR Consumer
MONITOR 06
Representative population surveys on selected topics at
the BfR are published as BfR Consumer Monitor.