Comparison between Self-Reported and Observed Food Handling Behaviors among Latinas

The study was conducted to compare and identify the magnitude of differences between self-reported and observed food safety behaviors among women preparing a chicken and salad dish at home. The observed food safety practices also were compared according to sociodemographic variables and prior food safety education. Sixty Puerto Rican women who were the main meal preparers for their households were recruited in Hartford, Conn. Three household visits were made to (i) deliver food ingredients to prepare the chicken and salad meal, (ii) conduct household observation, and (iii) conduct a self-reported survey. The difference between self-reported and observed behaviors varied across food handling and sanitation behaviors. There was a high level of inaccuracy for socially desirable behaviors such as hand washing; the vast majority of participants reported practicing these behaviors but they were not observed doing so. Cutting board washing also was considerably over-reported, questioning the validity of these self-reported data for regression analyses. There was a significant association (P < 0.05) between proper thawing method and prior food safety education, use of cutting board and higher income, and washing tomatoes and having a positive attitude towards food safety. Results revealed that overreporting errors must be considered when analyzing and/or interpreting data derived from self-reported food safety consumer surveys and that food safety education and positive food safety attitudes are associated with recommended food safety behaviors.

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Self-Reported Changes in Food Safety Behaviors among Foodservice Employees: Impact of a Retail Food Safety Education Program

Journal of Food Science Education ◽

10.1111/j.1541-4329.2007.00036.x ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 6 (4) ◽

pp. 72-76 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Jenna D. Anding ◽

Chris Boleman ◽

Britta Thompson

Keyword(s):

Food Safety ◽

Education Program ◽

Safety Behaviors ◽

Safety Education ◽

Food Safety Education ◽

Foodservice Employees ◽

Retail Food

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Evaluation of different food safety education interventions

British Food Journal ◽

10.1108/bfj-10-2015-0372 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 118 (4) ◽

pp. 762-776 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Yaohua Feng ◽

Christine Bruhn ◽

David Marx

Keyword(s):

Food Safety ◽

Safety Information ◽

Personal Hygiene ◽

Safety Education ◽

Food Handling ◽

Standard Material ◽

Content Type ◽

Food Safety Education ◽

Safe Handling ◽

Significant Difference

Purpose – The positive deviance (PD) focus group is a novel educational intervention that allows participants to discuss their food handling behaviors and decide to try recommended practices modeled by people like themselves. Currently, most food safety education is delivered through reading materials. The purpose of this paper is to explore the effectiveness of food safety education utilizing three interventions: PD, personal story reading and reading standard material. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 89 pregnant women and 93 people with diabetes received food safety information through one of three intervention methods: PD, reading standard educational material (Standard) and reading material presented in a story format (Story). A survey assessed self-reported risk and food safety knowledge and personal hygiene before and after the interventions. Take-home assignments allowed participants to practice recommendations. Post class interviews and survey assessed knowledge gained and reported behavior change. Findings – Compared to those who merely read educational information, participants in a PD Intervention had higher knowledge scores and adopted more safe handling recommendations. Involvement of the participants and the length of information exposure likely contributed to the significant difference between the interventions. This suggests that food safety education is most effective when delivered in a supportive discussion format. Health education programs for these vulnerable groups should endeavor to deliver safe food handling guidelines through a PD approach. Originality/value – Previous research demonstrated the effectiveness of PD when delivering nutrition education. This is the first paper that explored the effectiveness of a PD intervention in delivering safe handling recommendations.

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Knowledge, attitudes and practice of food services staff on food hygiene at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Journal of Food Safety and Hygiene ◽

10.18502/jfsh.v6i2.6524 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Nasim Zolfaghari Firouzsalari ◽

Arezou Khezerlou ◽

Hajar Zolfaghari ◽

Najmeh Shahmahdi ◽

Mahmood Alizadeh-Sani ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Safety ◽

Food Hygiene ◽

Safety Education ◽

Food Services ◽

Healthy Foods ◽

Medical Sciences ◽

Food Safety Education ◽

Attitudes And Practices ◽

High Level ◽

Education Courses

Food hygiene must be observed in production, storage, supply, and sales to obtain healthy foods with desirable quality. The purpose of present study was to evaluate the awareness, attitudes, and practices of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences food services staff toward food hygiene. A questionnaire consisting of 46 questions was completed by 40 food services staff from February to March 2019. Based on the results, respondents had an acceptable awareness (92.5% to 100% general sanitary awareness and 37.5% to 95% awareness about microbial food hazards), excellent attitudes (97.5% to 100%), and moderate practices regarding food hygiene (17.5% to 97.5%). Although all participants had a relatively high level of awareness and attitude and participated in food safety education courses, their practices were somewhat poor.

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Consumer Food-Handling Behaviors Associated with Prevention of 13 Foodborne Illnesses

Journal of Food Protection ◽

10.4315/0362-028x-66.10.1893 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 66 (10) ◽

pp. 1893-1899 ◽

Cited By ~ 63

Author(s):

VIRGINIA N. HILLERS ◽

LYDIA MEDEIROS ◽

PATRICIA KENDALL ◽

GANG CHEN ◽

STEVE DiMASCOLA

Keyword(s):

Food Safety ◽

Foodborne Pathogens ◽

Delphi Technique ◽

Food Microbiology ◽

Escherichia Coli O157 ◽

Safety Education ◽

Foodborne Illnesses ◽

Food Handling ◽

Secondary Importance ◽

Food Safety Education

To be effective in reducing the incidence of foodborne illness, consumers and food safety educators need information about behaviors that will decrease exposure to foodborne pathogens. A four-round Delphi technique was used to survey nationally recognized experts in food microbiology, epidemiology, food safety education, and food safety policy with the aim of identifying and ranking food-handling and consumption behaviors associated with 13 major foodborne pathogens. The food safety experts ranked behaviors related to keeping foods at safe temperatures as of primary importance in preventing illness caused by Bacillus cereus and Clostridium perfringens and of secondary importance in preventing illness caused by Staphylococcus aureus. The use of a thermometer to cook foods adequately was ranked as of primary importance for the prevention of illness caused by Campylobacter jejuni, Salmonella species, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Toxoplasma gondii, and Yersinia enterocolitica, with the avoidance of cross-contamination being ranked as of secondary importance for most of these pathogens. Hand washing was the top-ranked behavior for the prevention of shigellosis. The avoidance of certain foods that are likely to be contaminated was the top-ranked behavior for the prevention of illnesses caused by Listeria monocytogenes, Noroviruses, and Vibrio species. The expert panel's ranking of behaviors for the reduction of the risk of illness caused by major foodborne pathogens can enable consumers to make informed choices about food consumption and handling behaviors and can guide food safety educators in prioritizing their educational efforts.

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Over-confident and under-competent: exploring the importance of food safety education specific to high school students

Environmental Health Review ◽

10.5864/d2017-018 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 60 (3) ◽

pp. 65-72 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Kenneth J. Diplock ◽

Andria Jones-Bitton ◽

Scott T Leatherdale ◽

Steven Rebellato ◽

Joel A. Dubin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

High School Students ◽

Food Safety ◽

Safety Information ◽

Safety Education ◽

Food Handling ◽

School Students ◽

Food Safety Education ◽

Food Literacy ◽

Safe Food

The objective of this study was to explore age-specific reasons why food safety education might be important for high school students (in Ontario, Canada), from a variety of expert perspectives. In May 2014, semi-structured key informant interviews (n = 20) were conducted with food safety and youth education experts. A thematic analysis of verbatim transcripts of the interviews was conducted. Participants identified three major reasons why food safety is important for high school students: (i) they have current and personal needs for food safety information, (ii) high school is an ideal time and place to instill life-long good habits, and (iii) they are part of the foodborne illness risk landscape. Food safety education was deemed important for high school students, who were seen as a unique and captive audience in need of safe food handling skills, now and in the future, for a variety of reasons: potential employment advantages, improved food literacy, combating their sense of “invincibility,” and helping instill essential life skills that they may not get elsewhere. These results confirm the importance of food safety education for high school students and highlight the need to determine age-appropriate interventions and methods to engage high school students and improve their safe food handling practices.

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Observation of High School Students' Food Handling Behaviors: Do They Improve following a Food Safety Education Intervention?

Journal of Food Protection ◽

10.4315/0362-028x.jfp-17-441 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 81 (6) ◽

pp. 917-925 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

KENNETH J. DIPLOCK ◽

JOEL A. DUBIN ◽

SCOTT T. LEATHERDALE ◽

DAVID HAMMOND ◽

ANDRIA JONES-BITTON ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

High School Students ◽

Food Safety ◽

Student Characteristics ◽

Food Handler ◽

Safety Education ◽

Food Handling ◽

School Students ◽

Food Safety Education ◽

Safe Food

ABSTRACT Youth are a key audience for food safety education. They often engage in risky food handling behaviors, prepare food for others, and have limited experience and knowledge of safe food handling practices. Our goal was to investigate the effectiveness of an existing food handler training program for improving safe food handling behaviors among high school students in Ontario, Canada. However, because no schools agreed to provide control groups, we evaluated whether behaviors changed following delivery of the intervention program and whether changes were sustained over the school term. We measured 32 food safety behaviors, before the intervention and at 2-week and 3-month follow-up evaluations by in-person observations of students (n = 119) enrolled in grade 10 and 12 Food and Nutrition classes (n = 8) and who individually prepared recipes. We examined within-student changes in behaviors across the three time points, using mixed effects regression models to model trends in the total food handling score (of a possible 32 behaviors) and subscores for “clean” (17 behaviors), “separate” (14 behaviors), and “cook” (1 behavior), adjusting for student characteristics. At baseline, students (n = 108) averaged 49.1% (15.7 of 32 behaviors; standard deviation = 5.8) correct food handling behaviors, and only 5.5% (6) of the 108 students used a food thermometer to check the doneness of the chicken (the “cook” behavior). All four behavior score types increased significantly ∼2 weeks postintervention and remained unchanged ∼3 months later. Student characteristics (e.g., having taken a prior food handling course) were not significant predictors of the total number of correctly performed food handling behaviors or of the “clean” or “separate” behaviors, and working or volunteering in a food service establishment was the only student characteristic significantly associated with food thermometer use (i.e., “cook”) Despite the significant increase in correct behaviors, students continued to use risky practices postintervention, suggesting that the risk of foodborne disease remained.

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Safe Eats: An Evaluation of the Use of Social Media for Food Safety Education

Journal of Food Protection ◽

10.4315/0362-028x.11-551 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 75 (8) ◽

pp. 1453-1463 ◽

Cited By ~ 42

Author(s):

ASHLEY BRAMLETT MAYER ◽

JUDY A. HARRISON

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Food Safety ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Safety Education ◽

Safety Attitudes ◽

Food Safety Education ◽

Attitudes And Practices ◽

Safe Food ◽

Use Of Social Media ◽

And Control

Many undergraduate students are cooking for the first time, and they need to learn safe food practices to reduce their risk of foodborne illness. Social media tools are being utilized to disseminate public health messages, but limited research has been conducted to examine the effectiveness of these tools for food safety education. The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a social media–based intervention for young adults to improve food safety attitudes, practices, and knowledge. Preliminary surveys were conducted and online focus groups were convened to guide design of this social media intervention. College students (710) were included in treatment and control groups. Results from pretests and posttests indicate that participation in the “Safe Eats” Facebook intervention leads to improvements in food safety attitudes, practices, and knowledge. Although students reported that they learned more from the intervention than from a traditional lecture, the combination of lecture and Facebook resulted in higher knowledge scores than those resulting from the intervention alone. Participants who spent more time on the Facebook page had greater improvements in food safety attitudes and practices.

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