Food Protection Trends - December 2012 - (Page 750)

General Interest Paper Rethinking Hand Hygiene in the Retail and Foodservice Industries: Are Recommended Procedures Based on the Best Science and Practical under Real-world Conditions? AngelA FrAser,*1 JAMes W. ArbogAst,2 lee-Ann JAykus,3 richArd linton4 and didier Pittet5 1 dept. of Food, nutrition, and Packaging sciences, clemson university, clemson, sc 29634, usA; 2 goJo industries, inc., Akron, oh 44310, usA; 3dept. of Food, bioprocessing, and nutrition sciences, nc state university, raleigh, nc 27695, usA; 4dept. of Food science & technology, the ohio state university, 2015 Fyffe road, columbus, oh 43210, usA; 5infection control Program and Who collaborating centre on Patient safety, university of geneva hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, geneva, switzerland INTRODUCTION the u.s. centers for disease control and Prevention (cdc) estimate that human noroviruses (hunoV) are responsible for most (58%) cases of foodborne illness of known etiology (20). the u.s. Food and drug Administration (FdA) has classified human noroviruses (hunoV), hepatitis A virus, Salmonella typhi, enterohemorrhagic and shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, and Shigella spp. as “the big five” microorganisms of greatest concern in retail and foodservice establishments (27). these microorganisms, as well as most other common enteric pathogens, frequently make their way into food through the poor hygiene practices of infected or colonized food workers during the many touch points along the farm-to-fork continuum. At present, training is the primary method used to improve food worker hand-hygiene practices, with hundreds if not thousands of programs currently available through government health agencies, universities, food industry, and other professional groups. Many of these programs are driven by the provision that the person-in-charge of a foodservice operation shall demonstrate knowledge about food safety practices, as detailed in section 2–101.11 of the FdA Food code (28). however, in spite of the plethora of programs available, the overall public health impact of interventions designed to improve hand hygiene related food handling practices, including hand washing, remains a controversial topic (3, 4). observational studies of foodservice worker behavior have shown varied and relatively poor compliance with recommended hand hygiene practices. For example, some studies have indicated that 0 to 61% of restaurant workers, 6 to 73% of workers in institutional settings, and 2 to 82% of workers in deli operations properly follow recommended handwashing procedures (2, 8, 12, 23, 27, 33) (table 1). these low compliance rates suggest that current hand hygiene recommendations have not translated well into practice. to understand why this is the case, it is important to identify underlying factors that might be driving such low compliance rates. evidence from the literature suggests that training as a means of improving practices has had a limited effect. one reason is that interventions primarily focus on knowledge gain and often do not address underlying environmental and institutional factors contributing to successful outcomes (3). Perhaps another factor contributing to low compliance rates is the recommended hand hygiene procedures used as the basis for most training interventions. More specifically, are the recommended hand hygiene procedures for the foodservice industry based on the best published science, and are they practical for food handlers under real-world conditions? We maintain that it is necessary to explore these two questions in a systematic, science-based manner in an effort to identify optimal, sustainable hand hygiene practices for the foodservice industry. 750 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS | DECEMBER 2012 http://www.foodprotection.org/files/food-protection-trends/Dec-12-Pettite.pdf

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

Food Protection Trends - December 2012
Contents
Sustaining Members
From Your President
Commentary from the Executive Director
Exploration of Past Experiences, Attitudes and Preventive Behaviors of Consumers with Food Allergies about Dining Out: A Focus Group Study
Bacterial Contamination of Shopping Carts and Approaches to Control
General Interest Paper – Rethinking Hand Hygiene in the Retail and Foodservice Industries: Are Recommended Procedures Based on the Best Science and Practical under Real-world Conditions?
IAFP Committee, PDG, and Affiliate Council Mission Statements
Call for Award Nominations
New Members
What’s Happening in Food Safety
Industry Products
Coming Events
Advertising Index
Index to Volume 32
Journal of Food Protection Table of Contents
Booklet Order Form
Membership Application

Food Protection Trends - December 2012