Food safety agencies’ challenge: Is social media the definitive communicative solution?

This article offers an approach to how food safety agencies are adapting their communication strategies to social media. Mass media has been largely used by public health communicators to promote health risks and benefits of food products since the 1970s. These practices have caused frequent clashes between scientists and journalists as a result of different priorities and working logics of the two communities. However, the emergence of Web 2.0 and social media has lead to the democratization of the communicative process. They have given food safety agencies the opportunity to promote health risk and benefits directly to citizens without the help of the media. In particular, message adaptability and rapid environment have been identified as the two main advantages of social media for public health communicators. Nonetheless, it is wrong to consider that social media is a definitive solution to end the public food agencies’ historic communicative problem.