Abstract:

With the increasing occurrence of food safety incidents, the public has paid more and more attention to food
safety risks. In this study, starting from the theory of systemic risks, we constituted four risk recognition dimensions to
recognize food safety systemic risks. Genetically modified organism (GMO) risk was taken as an example to explain why
the arguments existed for a long time from the viewpoint of four risk recognition dimensions. Our results contributed to
form new cognition views of food safety risks and could provide suggestions for related institutions to carry on effective risk
communication, help the public know food safety risks correctly and avoid unnecessary panic or trust crisis.

Key words: food safety, systemic risks, risk cognition, genetically modified organism (GMO) risks