Food Safety–Related Refrigeration and Freezer Practices and Attitudes of Consumers in Peoria and Surrounding Counties

2006 ◽  
Vol 69 (7) ◽  
pp. 1640-1645 ◽  
Author(s):  
RUTH E. TOWNS ◽  
ROBERT W. CULLEN ◽  
JEAN A. MEMKEN ◽  
NWEZE E. NNAKWE

Government agencies have recently emphasized the importance of food safety. Reducing the risk of foodborne illnesses within the home requires American consumers to put government refrigeration and freezer recommendations into practice; however, little research has been conducted regarding the use of proper refrigeration and freezer storage practices by consumers. A random sample survey was conducted to examine attitudes and practices of proper refrigeration and storage techniques of consumers in Peoria County, Illinois, and to determine whether gender, age, education, and income level have an effect on these variables. Eighty-one of 500 random sample surveys mailed were returned between 10 January and 15 February 2005. The majority of the participants were female (56, 69.1%), were 50 to 59 years old (18, 22.2%), had a bachelor's degree (33, 40.7%), and had a reported total household income of $60,000 or greater (39, 91.4%). Average attitudinal scores indicated that participants thought it was important to take proper steps to prevent foodborne illnesses in the home; however, 68.8% of participants scored poorly on the practice portion of the survey. Only 12.3% of participants stated that they had a thermometer in their freezer, and 24.7% had one in their refrigerator. Eighty-four percent of respondents did not store eggs correctly in the refrigerator. No significant relationships (P < 0.05) were found within this sample population. These results suggest that further evaluation of consumer practices and attitudes is needed to better understand consumers so that they can be effectively educated about the prevention of foodborne illnesses at home.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tareq M. Osaili ◽  
Anas A. Al-Nabulsi ◽  
Asma' O. Taybeh

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) amongst university students in Jordan and changes in food-related behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Correlation between food safety KAP scores and general characteristics of university students was also evaluated.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted where an Internet-based questionnaire was distributed through social media platforms. The sample consisted of 1,739 respondents from 29 Jordanian universities. The participants completed a 58-item questionnaire covering demographical characteristics and different food safety aspects which were namely “COVID-19 food-related attributes,” “food cooking and storage,” “personal hygiene.” “cross-contamination prevention/disinfection procedures.” and “restaurant hygiene.” Descriptive statistics, Chi square tests and binary logistic analysis were used to assess the data.Results: The sample consisted of 67.2% females with a mean age of 21.3 ± 1.8 years. The average overall score of the tested aspects was 14.1/34.0 which corresponds to 41.3% of the questions being answered correctly. The percentage of correct answers of “COVID-19 food-related attributes,” “food cooking and storage,” “cross-contamination prevention/disinfection procedures,” “personal hygiene” and “restaurant hygiene” was 56.8, 36.6, 28.4, 44.6. and 36.9%, respectively. A significant (P <0.05) association between respondents' food safety KAP scores and gender, marital status, university degree, employment status, self-rating of food safety knowledge, and the source of food safety information.Conclusion: University students in Jordan had insufficient KAP scores which is a concerning trend during the pandemic. Teaching fundamentals of food safety in the form of short courses/ lectures is recommended.


Author(s):  
Danford Barnaba Mbonabucha ◽  
Leonard William Tungaraza Fweja

The present study examined the compliance of butcher shops to food safety practices. The study was done based on a survey of 61 respondents randomly sampled from 61 butchers in Rungwe district. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 20 using descriptive statistics. The results indicated that the butcher environment and physical conditions had an average compliance score of 50.8%, the overall average awareness score on foodborne illnesses and hygienic practices was 65% whereas cleaning and sanitization had an overall average compliance score of 41.9%. Personal hygiene which was evaluated in terms of clothing, hands and individual health recorded 75.4% and 68.9% compliance scores for proper handwashing and drying respectively. The common hand drying practices involved the use of clean towels (62.8%) and disposable paper towels (11.5%), even so, 26.2% did not dry their hands at all. The use and cleanliness of aprons were adhered to by 93.7% of the respondents. Cross-contamination was deemed likely among 45.9% butchers due to non-separation and storage of spare clothes in the butchers. The common handling and storage practices was that of suspending meats on hooks at room temperatures (93.4%) with only 4.9% of butchers suspending on hooks at refrigeration temperature. This suggests none chilling of surplus meat at the end of the day sale by the majority of butchers. The compliance of butcher shops to food safety practices was generally modest which could be attributed to illiteracy in food safety and lack of proper meat handling and storage facilities.


10.17158/325 ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason O. Molina

<p>The study determined the relationships between food safety knowledge and practices of hospital food handlers in Davao City and also between their attitudes and practices regarding food safety. Questionnaire patterned after the Key Food Safety Guidelines of Pacific Northwest Publications was administered to 51food handlers to generate the data. It was found that hospital food handlers in Davao City are highly knowledgeable and have favorable attitudes in food safety. The extent of food safety practices of food handlers in general is high except for their practices in cooking foods adequately and in keeping foods at safe temperatures which are only at moderate extent. In addition, there was no significant difference in the knowledge, attitudes and practices of food handlers regarding food safety when they were grouped according to sex, age, level of education and length of service. In general, this study revealed that neither of the knowledge nor attitudes of the hospital food handlers were able to establish significant relationships with their practices regarding food safety.</p>


2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard C. Jones ◽  
Leonardo De la Torre

The increasing difficulty of return migration and the demands for assimilation into host societies suggest a long-term cutting of ties to origin areas—likely accentuated in the Bolivian case by the recent shift in destinations from Argentina to the US and Spain. Making use of a stratified random sample of 417 families as well as ethnographic interviews in the provinces of Punata, Esteban Arze, and Jordán in the Valle Alto region the authors investigate these issues. Results suggest that for families with greater than ten years cumulated foreign work experience, there are significantly more absentees and lower levels of remittances as a percentage of household income. Although cultural ties remain strong after ten years, intentions to return to Bolivia decline markedly. The question of whether the dimunition of economic ties results in long-term village decline in the Valle Alto remains an unanswered.   


Author(s):  
Kristen Simonds ◽  
Lucy Yixuan Zhang ◽  
June I. Matthews

Purpose: This descriptive qualitative study explored young males’ perceptions of food skills in 3 domains: food selection and planning, food preparation, and food safety and storage. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method. Results: Forty-four young men (aged 17–35) reported varying levels of food skills, from little/no confidence to very confident and skilled. Most participants learned food skills from their mothers. Greater involvement in food selection and planning at a young age appeared to be related to parental influence and encouragement, exposure to food skills at school, and interest in food-related activities, which, in turn, provided a solid foundation for being confident cooks as young adults. Most notable was the lack of knowledge about, or confidence in, food safety and storage. Young men with low self-perceived food skills were deeply embarrassed about this deficiency in front of peers who had higher levels of confidence and skills. Conclusions: Future interventions or curricula should emphasize food safety and storage. This research also illustrates the importance of the home environment in teaching food skills to youth and ensuring that food skills are taught well before young adults begin living independently.


Food Control ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 126 ◽  
pp. 108020
Author(s):  
Wandee Sirichokchatchawan ◽  
Nutta Taneepanichskul ◽  
Nuvee Prapasarakul

2021 ◽  
pp. 194855062110002
Author(s):  
Lotte Pummerer ◽  
Robert Böhm ◽  
Lau Lilleholt ◽  
Kevin Winter ◽  
Ingo Zettler ◽  
...  

During COVID-19, conspiracy theories were intensely discussed in the media. Generally, both believing in conspiracy theories (i.e., explanations for events based on powerholders’ secret arrangements) and being confronted with a conspiracy theory have been found to predict cognition and behavior with negative societal effects, such as low institutional trust. Accordingly, believing in conspiracy theories around COVID-19 should reduce institutional trust, support of governmental regulations and their adoption, and social engagement (e.g., helping members of risk groups). We tested these predictions in a national random sample survey, an experiment, and a longitudinal study ( N total = 1,213; all studies were preregistered). Indeed, believing in and being confronted with a COVID-19 conspiracy theory decreased institutional trust, support of governmental regulations, adoption of physical distancing, and—to some extent—social engagement. Findings underscore the severe societal effects of conspiracy theories in the context of COVID-19.


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