Food Protection Trends - August 2012 - (Page 468)

ARTICLES Food Protection Trends, Vol. 32, No. 8, Pages 468–476 Copyright© 2012, International Association for Food Protection 6200 Aurora Ave., Suite 200W, Des Moines, IA 50322-2864 Assessing Factors Contributing to Food Safety Culture in Retail Food Establishments JACK A. NEAL1*, MARGARET BINKLEY2 and DANIEL HENROID3 1 Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, University of Houston, 229 C. N. Hilton Hotel & College, Houston, TX 77204-3028, USA; 2 Department of Consumer Sciences, Campbell Hall 115C, The Ohio State University, Columbus OH, 43210, USA 3 Department of Nutrition and Food Services, 505 Parnassus Ave., University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA ABSTRACT Training employees on food safety practices has been shown to be one of the most important programs that food service establishments can implement. However, results also provide evidence that traditional approaches used to educate and train employees (such as ServSafe) may not be particularly effective, and new behavior-based approaches that include food safety education as part of the culture of the organization need to be developed. Therefore, this preliminary study was conducted to identify the factors and behaviors that constitute the food safety culture among food service workers. Food service employees (103) were surveyed using a modified version of the Food Safety Climate Tool. Participants rated 38 items by means of a 5-point Likert-type scale related to management commitment to food safety, work unit commitment to food safety, food safety training, food safety system infrastructure,and worker food safety behavior. Principal component factor andANOVA analyses were conducted, using SPSS. Respondents reported that the most important factors for developing a food safety culture are management commitment and worker food safety behavior. Results indicate that if they create a work environment that encourages good food safety behavior and culture, food service operators may be able to reduce the risk of foodborne illness outbreaks. INTRODUCTION Foodborne illness significantly affects consumers in the United States. According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 9.4 million incidences of foodborne illnesses occur each year, with 55,961 hospitalizations and 1,351 deaths (17). The CDC evaluated all reported cases of foodborne illness in the U.S. between 1993 and 1997 and found more than 90 percent were a result of improper food handling practices, which involved coming to work when sick, bare hand contact and time and temperature abuse (2). In examining factors that have led to foodborne diseases in the U.S., Howes (11) found that improper food handler practices in both food service establishments and consumer homes accounted for approximately 97 percent of foodborne illnesses. One of the most important procedures that retail food establishments (RFEs) can implement to decrease the chance of foodborne illness is training employees on proper food handling practices. In addition, establishments need to take into consideration the best way to train employees so that this knowledge translates not only into practice but also into changes in behavior. The U.S. * Author for correspondence: Phone: +1 713.743.2652; Fax: +1 713.743.3696 E-mail: jneal@central.uh.edu 468 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS | AUGUST 2012 http://www.foodprotection.org/files/food-protection-trends/Aug-12-Neal.pdf

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Protection Trends - August 2012

Food Protection Trends - August 2012
Contents
Sustaining Members
From Your President
Commentary from the Executive Director
Efficacy of Various Consumer-Friendly Produce Washing Technologies in Reducing Pathogens on Fresh Produce
Assessing Factors Contributing to Food Safety Culture in Retail Food Establishments
New Members
What’s Happening in Food Safety
Industry Products
Journal of Food Protection Table of Contents
Advertising Index
Coming Events
Thoughts on Today’s Food Safety...Threats to Ingredient Water Safety

Food Protection Trends - August 2012