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less than half of consumers are familiar with Listeria, compared with 94% for Salmonella and E. coli. Additionally, care must be taken with regard to self-reported awareness, because this might be lower than actual awareness. Indeed, over two-thirds of consumers who reported being aware of Listeria were not able to identify possible food vehicles (3). Respondents without a post-secondary degree were more likely than those with such a degree to perceive deli foods as “safer than” restaurant foods, which might be explained by a lower awareness of Listeria. Awareness of Listeria has been reported to be generally lower among respondents with relatively low education and incomes (3, 24). The perception of delis being relatively safe is of concern, given the inconsistent levels of regulatory food safety oversight currently prevalent in delis. Federal inspectors enforce Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) and Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOP; a part of the HACCP) at production plants, but GMPs and SSOP are not mandatory at the retail deli. It is up to the supermarkets and local health department inspectors to ensure that deli departments develop and implement SSOP. Martin et al. (25) reported that the retail and food service industries are being inspected less frequently than production plants and often do not implement HACCP-based food safety principles. According to Lianou and Sofos (23), the combination of limited control interventions and lack of a regulatory framework increases the risk of L. monocytogenes contamination of RTE foods in retail and food service environments. Suitable cleaning, sanitation and hygiene as well as temperature control are necessary to prevent or inhibit contamination with and growth of L. monocytogenes. Therefore, it is important that there be sufficient and consistent control interventions as well as regulation of delis (23). Temperature control during slicing, packaging and storage, although important, is lacking at most grocery deli counters (19). In federally inspected processing plants producing deli foods, the operations take place at temperatures below 55°F and storage occurs below 40°F. At most grocery store deli counters; however, there is no temperature control: operations such as slicing take place at room temperature, and the temperature at the deli showcase can be above 40°F (19).

Shopping habits
Our study shows that about half of the respondents shop weekly or monthly at the grocery store deli counter. This result is similar to the results reported by the Food Marketing Institute (12), which found that 60% of the respondents purchase fresh cut deli items from supermarkets on a monthly basis. As for the items bought at delis, our results are consistent with those reported by IDDBA (20), which listed the top 12 most consumed deli products for households. Based on this report, sliced-to-order luncheon meat is the deli item most often consumed (on average 2.9 times/ week), followed by sandwiches (2.7 times/week). Pre-sliced packaged deli meats have an average weekly household consumption of 1 time/week (20), which is only one-third of the consumption of retail sliced deli meats. Our results support the conclusions of IDDBA (20) and Mitchell (27), who reported convenience as the most common reason for purchasing at the in-store deli counter. Many consumers are seeking convenient meals, which likely contributes to increased deli purchases. In addition, Mitchell (2009) suggests that the slowdown in consumer spending due to the economic situation is beneficial to the deli; consumers have become more cost-minded, resulting in a shift from food purchases at a fast-casual restaurant to a cheaper alternative such as a deli. However, in our study, only 2% of the respondents purchased deli foods because of cost considerations.

however, this is only a small reward. Payment awards with a value high enough to offset the time spent for all shoppers would have resulted in less bias in selection of participants but would greatly affect the cost of the study.

CONCLUSIONS
Most consumers are not aware of the danger of RTE deli meats and Listeria contamination, and this lack of awareness may prevent consumers from taking proper precautions when handling RTE foods. Unfortunately, we do not know where most foodborne illness originates, but people’s belief that it is somewhere other than the grocery store or their own home might reduce their concern for food safety at the grocery store or at home. In the future, there is a need not only to continue educating consumers about possible food safety problems and foodborne pathogens such as Listeria but also to help them develop more understanding of safe food-handling practices to help prevent foodborne illness (36). From the results of multiple studies (1, 22), we can conclude that consumers often do not know about the recommended refrigerator temperature of 40°F or below. It is necessary to educate consumers about the consequences of unsafe practices so as to motivate them to follow food safety guidelines. According to Bruhn (2), not only the consumer but also the health community, food industry regulators and the media are responsible for educating consumers so as to ensure that they handle foods correctly. When consumers do not follow the guidelines (insufficient temperature control, poor hygiene), this means that the food safety message has not been delivered effectively, and more or different means of education are necessary. Supermarket delis can provide food safety information. In 2004, 43% of in-store delis provided information about how long the food can be stored; this figure is only marginally higher than it was in 1999 (40%) (20). In addition, because most consumers get information about food safety from the media, it will be important to continue working with the media to get food safety information out to the consumer most effectively. The use of food labels is another efficient mechanism that is used to provide

Limitations of the study
One of the limitations of the study is the sample size. A sample size of 213 is sufficient for a survey study, but caution is necessary when generalizing the results to a larger population. The respondents who participated were not selected randomly, since we approached the shoppers and asked them to participate voluntarily, after we had selected specific grocery stores. This might result in sample selection bias. The stores were all located fairly close together, in neighboring cities. In addition, only shoppers who chose to participate were questioned (volunteer bias). We provided University of Arkansas mascot cups as gifts of appreciation for completing the survey, in an attempt to motivate more shoppers to participate;

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Food Protection Trends - November 2010

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