Food Protection Trends - December 2009 - 855

TABLE 4. Knowledge questions of seniors and MOW participants Senior Participants (n = 43) How long should you keep leftovers in your refrigerator? 1 day only 1–2 days 3–4 days 5–6 days More than 6 days Don’t know Missing At what temperature should food in your refrigerator be kept? 50°F 45°F 40°F 35°F 32°F I don’t know or well; they apparently worked too well in some cases, because the temperature of some was so cold that items placed in them would freeze. In a previous study, Albrecht and Larvick et al. (1) found that MOW recipients reported that their refrigerators worked well, but the average refrigerator temperature recorded over a one week period was above the recommended temperature of 40°F for 53% of the MOW recipients surveyed. The FightBAC!® logo on the label (Fig. 1) is a very colorful and busy graphic that includes a thermometer with a 40°F reading. This busy graphic possibly made it confusing for the MOW recipient to grasp this temperature message. In addition, when the graphic was used on this label, the written text on the graphic was difficult to read. Therefore, this component of the label was not effective. Since the FightBAC!® temperature logo was not effective on the label, the “Be Food Safe” (19) chill graphic (Fig. 2) was used in place of the FightBAC!® logo and tested with another group (data not shown). No differences were found when MOW Participants (n = 47) 4.7 (2) 34.8 (15) 46.5 (20) 4.7 (2) 0.0 (0) 9.3 (4) 0.0 (0) 12.8 (6) 59.6 (28) 21.3 (10) 0.0 (0) 2.1 (1) 2.1 (1) 2.1 (1) 0.0 (0) 7.0 (3) 46.5 (20) 18.6 (8) 7.0 (3) 20.9 (9) this second group was asked the same question. In the focus groups, the participants stated that they liked the colorful graphics, but color and graphics mainly appealed to the overall appearance of the education piece rather than serving as a method of conveying information. However, the rest of the label was effective. When interviewers asked the MOW participants to tell what the label (Fig. 1) was about, responses included: to refrigerate within 2 hours, eat right away or put in the refrigerator, and length of time to keep food in the refrigerator. Lando and Fein et al. (11) stated that people who read the food safety label had no trouble in making storage decisions, although reading labels requires literacy and motivation. The large print on the label was appreciated by our audience (Table 2). Johnson et al. (10) reported that 45% of the elderly people in their study had difficulty reading food labels, including the “use by” and “sell by” dates on commercially packaged food. They recommended that a larger, clearer label could contribute to food storage safety 0.0 (0) 2.1 (1) 19.1 (9) 12.8 (6) 12.8 (6) 53.2 (25) if the label was in a readable format for the audience. Reasons given for their difficulty in reading the label was that the print was too small and cramped. In another study, Brandt et al. (5) stated that the food label could be used as an educational tool to convey food safety messages critical to the product. During the week prior to the interview, all MOW participants received one of the educational handouts on each of the five days. Of those who agreed to be interviewed, 91% stated that they read the educational handouts. The interviewers asked the MOW participants to share one thing they had learned from these educational handouts. Although several participants (19%) stated that they had already known all the information, several others (17%) stated that the information was a good reminder/refresher, and many gave specific examples of knowledge learned. Handwashing comments were given by 25% of the participants; proper temperature control (hot and cold) comments were given by 36%; and cross-contamination DECEMBER 2009 | FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS
Food Protection Trends - December 2009

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