TABLE 3. Descriptive characteristics of study participants (n = 38) who completed an observed food preparation activity used to validate responses to four food safety survey questions Descriptive Characteristics Participants (n = 38) Gender Female Male 37 1 97% 2.6% 18 16 2 2 47.4% 42.1% 5.3% 5.3% 3 32 3 7.9% 84.2% 7.9% Race Black White Multi-racial Not reported Ethnicity Hispanic/Latino Non-Hispanic/Non-Latino Not reported TABLE 4. Numbers and percentages of responses to four food safety questions that were evaluated by all participants who enrolled in a food safety survey validation study (n = 76) Survey Question Response Distribution Never Rarely Sometimes (about 20% of (about 40% of the time) the time) Often (about 60% of the time) Usually (about 80% of the time) Always How often do you thaw frozen food on the counter or in the sink? 26.3% (n = 20) 15.8% (n = 12) 13.2% (n = 10) 10.5% (n = 8) 21.1% (n = 16) 13.2% (n = 10) How often do you wash your hands with soap and warm running water before preparing food? - 2.6% (n = 2) - 2.6% (n = 2) 10.5% (n = 8) 84.2% (n = 64) After cutting raw meat or seafood, how often do you wash all items and surfaces that came in contact with these foods? 2.6% (n = 2) - - - 7.9% (n = 6) 89.5% (n = 68) How often do you use a meat thermometer to see if meat is cooked to a safe temperature? 50% (n = 38) 26.3% (n = 20) 10.5% (n = 8) - 7.9% (n = 6) 5.3% (n = 4) 454 Food Protection Trends November/December