Food Protection Trends - January 2009 - 28

used in this research are comparable to those of the sample used in other studies, and the results therefore still present a realistic picture of the differences between chain and independent operations. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS This research sought to determine the beliefs of restaurant managers about offering food safety training to their employees. Overall, the results of the direct measures of the TpB indicated that intention to offer food safety training to employees was high. Restaurant managers had a positive attitude toward food safety and rated their referents as important to the decision to offer food safety training, which indicates that they do care about others’ opinions. Managers’ indicated that their perception of control was high and that they are therefore able to offer food safety training to their employees if they choose. The indirect measures related to the TpB provided insight into the reasons why food safety training is not being conducted for restaurant employees. Behavioral beliefs, which included ensuring safe food, increasing employee awareness of food safety, and maintaining the operation’s reputation, were ranked high and thus are important reasons managers choose to offer food safety training for employees. The most important referents included the health inspector, customers and long-term employees. Control beliefs, while not ranked as high as behavioral and normative beliefs, can still provide insight into why managers are not providing food safety training. These beliefs included employee scheduling, manager’s time, and the overall time commitment. These issues, while individual in nature, relate to financial resources. Certification status Independent samples t-tests determined differences in beliefs between respondents based on certification status (Table 4). Managers who were certified had stronger beliefs about their important referents (subjective norms) (t = 3.097, P = .002), indicating that they placed more importance on what others around them thought. Those who were certified believed that offering food safety training was not as much under their control; that is non-certified managers had significantly higher mean scores (t = -2.500, P = .013). As for behavioral intentions, managers who were certified had significantly higher intentions (t = 3.73, P = .000) to train their employees than their non-certified counterparts. This supports the findings of other food safety studies, which found that certified managers also perform better on health inspections than their non-certified counterparts (11, 22). For indirect beliefs, certified managers had more positive beliefs that food safety training would ensure safe food (t = 2.61, P = .010), increase employees’ awareness of food safety (t = 2.599, P = .011), increase food quality (t = 2.72, P = .008), decrease lawsuits (t = 2.044, P = .043), and reduce food waste (t = 2.105, P = .037). Certified managers thought that their vendors (t = 2.522, P = .013) and supervisors (t = 2.994, P = .003) were important referents in offering food safety. However, certified managers perceived stronger controls over the time commitment for food safety training (t = -2.557, P = .012) and lack of financial resources (t = -2.205, P = .029). The FDA (2004) found similar results, reporting that operations with certified managers outperformed those with non-certified managers. Managers who were certified perceived less control over off-site training opportunities (t = -3.490, P = .001) and had greater concern over a lack of financial resources (t = -2.205, P = .029) and the time required for food safety training (t = -2.557, P = .012). and that customers and supervisors are more important referents. One explanation may be that chain operations face greater national exposure and financial losses should a foodborne illness outbreak occur, so that their success depends on the food quality and customer satisfaction not only in their restaurant, but in all of the chain’s restaurants. Certification status Managers who were certified had a higher intention to train employees and placed more emphasis on their referents, but they felt they had less control over offering food safety training. Because certified managers may well have greater knowledge than non-certified managers about food safety, they rated ensuring safe food, increasing employees’ awareness of food safety, improving food quality, decreasing lawsuits, and reducing food waste as more important. This would indicate that once certified, managers may be more aware of the serious consequences that can and will result from a foodborne illness outbreak, because most certification programs, including ServSafe®, emphasize this throughout the training. Certified managers also realized that time, lack of off-site training opportunities, and financial resources were greater barriers to offering food safety training. This could be because managers who have gone through the training are more aware of the financial and time requirements necessary to complete a food safety training class and may be more aware of where to locate off-site training classes. Ownership structure Between chain and independent restaurant managers, the only difference was that independent restaurant managers perceive greater control over being able to offer food safety training. This is an indication that while managers of chain operations have more support for food safety from the corporate office, they could be more restricted by company policies and procedures. Managers in chain operations have strict performance and financial goals to meet, which might result in less money being available for additional off-site training. Chain managers felt more strongly than independent managers that offering food safety training to employees improves food quality and keeps customers satisfied CONCLUSIONS AND APPLICATIONS Overall, the results of this research indicate that although managers felt that food safety training for employees was important, there are important barriers, such as difficulty with employee scheduling, lack of management time, and lack of off-site training opportunities, that need to be addressed before employee food safety training can become more widespread. Managers felt that training employees was important for ensuring safe food and increasing employees’ awareness of food safety. However, they did not feel as strongly that food safety training for employees would aid in the reduction of food waste or increasing employee satisfac- 28 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS | JANUARY 2009
Food Protection Trends - January 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Protection Trends - January 2009
