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studies have shown that consumers often do not engage in
recommended safe food handling practices and behaviors at
home, which can increase their risk of foodborne illness (23,
26). This is particularly noteworthy during the COVID-19
pandemic, because many restaurants were closed during its
early stages, resulting in more cooking at home. As such,
additional efforts are needed by consumers during pandemic
situations to prevent foodborne illness and its severe consequences
to help relieve stress on the health care system.
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, media reports
noted a trend among consumers of panic buying or stockpiling
various household supplies and foods, including perishable
items such as meat and poultry (36). This trend was also
noted during prior emergencies, such as a 2015 snowstorm in
New York City (38). This practice raises food safety concerns
because of the need for adequate storage and refrigeration
of these foods; for example, most perishable foods must be
either frozen or consumed within 3 to 4 days to prevent potentially
hazardous microbial growth (14). In addition, hand
sanitizer shortages led to online promotion of homemade
hand sanitizer recipes, which have limitations compared with
traditional hand washing (7) and may not be effective if not
prepared properly or if unvalidated recipes are used. Other
potentially unsafe practices, including washing produce with
soap, were also promoted online (10).
The COVID-19 pandemic presents an opportunity
to investigate these issues among Canadians. Thus, we
conducted an investigation using qualitative descriptive
methods (25). The purpose of this study was to investigate
how and why Canadians engaged in different food handling
and hand hygiene behaviors during the current COVID-19
pandemic. Furthermore, the results of the study can help
to identify future public health and food safety education,
communication, and outreach needs in future times of
crisis or emergency. The standards for reporting qualitative
research guideline was followed during the preparation and
reporting of this article (29).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Study participants
Online, text-based focus groups were conducted with
Canadian consumers meeting the following eligibility
criteria: were living in Canada, were aged 18 or older,
prepared meals at home at least once per week, and were
able to participate in a text-based chat in English. The focus
groups were conducted in May and June 2020. Participants
were recruited via online postings on the Facebook " Focus
Groups " group, the Reddit community r/SampleSize, Kijiji.
ca (targeting the Canadian cities of Vancouver, Regina,
Halifax, Toronto, and Edmonton), and through personal
referrals. The recruitment notice directed participants to an
online screening form. They were then required to complete
this form to ensure they fulfilled eligibility criteria for study
inclusion and to provide consent. We contacted eligible
participants via a follow-up email to provide details (i.e.,
date, time, and web-conferencing link) of the focus group. At
the end of each focus group, participants were directed to a
factsheet detailing best practices for shopping and handling
groceries during the pandemic (28). Each participant was
emailed a $25 (CAD) e-gift card to an online retailer as a
participation incentive. This study was approved by Ryerson
University's Research Ethics Board (REB 2020-152).
Data collection
Participants attended focus groups via the web-conferencing
service Zoom (Zoom Video Communications, Inc., San Jose,
CA). We used the waiting room and lock-meeting features to
ensure meetings were secure. In addition, a unique meeting
password was required to join each session. Focus groups were
conducted using the chat function only, with audio and video
functions turned off for moderators and participants. Focus
groups followed a semistructured, flexible question guide that
was adapted according to the answers provided. The questions
were open ended and inquired about food preparation habits at
home; food safety concerns (during and before COVID-19);
food purchasing, handling, and storage behaviors; hand
hygiene and sanitation practices; and information sources
about food safety in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. A
copy of the screening form and question guide are provided as
supplemental material.
Focus groups were scheduled to include five to eight participants
each, lasting 1 to 2 h in duration (17). To identify possible
age-based differences or trends in participants' behaviors,
we stratified focus group participation by age group, conducting
separate groups for those aged 18 to 39 and those aged 40
or older. The sessions were recorded to ensure that transcripts
of the text were available upon completion. The names used in
this article are pseudonyms that have been randomly assigned
to participants to maintain their confidentiality.
Data analysis
Thematic analysis was conducted on the focus group
transcripts using the Theoretical Domains Framework as a
coding guide (2). Each person who participated in a focus
group was considered a separate unit of analysis. Once
collected, the data were coded by two investigators (R. Haas
and I. Young). Both investigators reviewed and coded the
first transcript independently, and results were discussed and
merged. Minor revisions were also made to the coding form.
The remaining six transcripts were then independently coded
by both investigators, and results were subsequently merged.
The coding process entailed numerous readthroughs of the
transcripts, identifying trends and patterns and inferring
nuances such as emotion in the data.
The analysis was conducted using NVivo 12 qualitative
analysis software (QSR International, Doncaster, Australia).
Themes were developed, revised, refined, and named in
an iterative process by grouping and evaluating the coded
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