Food Involvement, Food Choices, and Bioactive Compounds Consumption Correlation during COVID-19 Pandemic: How Food Engagement Influences Consumers' Food Habits

The containment measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic affected food-related activities,influencing dietary behavior, food habits, and dietary choices. This study aimed to comparethe relationship between food involvement and dietary choices before and during the pandemic,investigating the role played by food in dietary habits. Responses given by 2773 Italian consumers toan online survey were studied through the Food Involvement Scale (FIS) and correlated to eatinghabits. FIS scores were then used to explain the importance given to food in circumstances relatedto well-being, health, and protection against COVID-19 and used to study the relationship betweenFIS and bioactive compound knowledge, use, and efficacy against COVID-19. The consumers moreinvolved in food issues recognized the importance of food in circumstances related to well-being,health, and protection against COVID-19 and improved their diet during the pandemic. Moreover,consumers who gave more importance to food also revealed higher attention to the use of healthysubstances, such as bioactive compounds, considering them effective against COVID-19. Theseresults showed that food experiencing and involvement could be important elements to promotehealthy dietary habits that are essential to maintain physical and mental health during emergencyperiods such as the COVID-19 pandemic.