Food Protection Trends - May 2011 - (Page 274)

Copyright© 2011, International Association for Food Protection 6200 Aurora Ave., Suite 200W, Des Moines, IA 50322-2864 Food Protection Trends, Vol. 31, No. 5, Pages 274–279 Observations of Consumer Salad Preparation HO S. PHANG and CHRISTINE M. BRUHN* Dept. of Food Science and Technology, One Shields Ave., University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA ABSTRACT Video footage of 199 volunteers in Northern California as they prepared salad was analyzed for adherence to safe handling recommendations as recommended by the FightBAC! Food Safety Educational Campaign.Almost half of the participants washed lettuce under running water with hand rubbing as recommended, with 15% not washing lettuce at all. Higher percentages of volunteers used hand rubbing and running water on tomatoes (67%) and celery (74%). The majority of volunteers shook the water off of their lettuce (58%), tomatoes (75%) and celery (81%) to dry them. Only 27% of volunteers removed stem scars from tomatoes even though studies have shown that higher numbers of bacteria may be found in tomato stem scars compared to the other parts of tomatoes. Video analysis has shown that consumer preparation of produce used in salad may not be adequate. INTRODUCTION Foodborne illness imposes a significant health and economic burden on the population of the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 31 major pathogens cause 9.4 million episodes of foodborne illness, 55,961 hospitalizations and 1,351 deaths each year (20). The financial impact of foodborne illness can reach billions of dollars every year (21). One foodborne pathogen, E. coli O157, acquired from domestic sources is estimated to sicken 63,000 people a year (20). The annual cost in 2003 associated with E. coli O157:H7 was estimated to be $450 million in the United States (8). Outbreaks have been linked to produce including fresh-cut leafy greens (1, 5, 9, 12). For example, in 2006 an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that sickened over 200 people was linked to fresh spinach, possibly contaminated by wild pigs found in the vicinity of the implicated farms (5). Large outbreaks of foodborne illnesses are generally well-publicized, a fact that is reflected by changes in the purchasing patterns of consumers. The Food Marketing Institute annual report on consumer shopping showed that buying decisions are affected by highly publicized food recalls (7). In 2009, 60% of consumers reported that they stopped buying items containing peanuts after the Peanut Corporation of America recall while in 2007, 74% reported that they stopped buying spinach. Purchase of bagged salads, lettuce, and tomatoes have also been affected by foodborne illness outbreaks. Recommendations for produce preparation include hand washing before handling produce, washing equipment with hot soapy water, using running water to wash leafy vegetables, drying fresh produce with clean paper towels or a clean salad spinner and scrubbing firmskinned produce with a clean vegetable brush under running water (16, 18). About 80% of participants in a nationwide survey indicated that they washed fresh produce before further preparation while 6% of participants reported that they “seldom or never wash” fresh produce (15). Direct video observation of produce washing shows that compliance with recommended washing practices may not be as high as suggested by surveys. When volunteers were filmed during meal preparation, only 60 to 71% were observed washing lettuce during meal preparation (2, 22). A peer-reviewed article * Author for correspondence: Phone: +1 530.752.2774; Fax: +1 530.752.4759 E-mail: cmbruhn@ucdavis.edu 274 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS | MAY 2011 http://www.foodprotection.org/files/food-protection-trends/May-11-Bruhn.pdf

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Protection Trends - May 2011

Food Protection Trends - May 2011
Contents
Sustaining Members
Reflections of Your President
Commentary from the Executive Director
Lessons to be Learned from an Outbreak of Foodborne Listeriosis, Austria 2009–2010
Observations of Consumer Salad Preparation
IAFP Secretary Announcement
Highlights from the Dubai International Food Safety Conference
New Members
What’s Happening in Food Safety
Industry Products
Special Contributors and Sponsors
Preliminary Program
Ivan Parkin Lecture
John H. Silliker Lecture
Activities
General Information
Exhibitors
Workshops
Registration Rates
Coming Events
Advertising Index
Journal of Food Protection Table of Contents
Booklet Order Form
Membership Application
Celebrating 100 Years of IAFP: 1970s

Food Protection Trends - May 2011