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Food Protection Trends
Abstracts - March 2004
Self-reported Changes in Food Safety Practices
as a Result of Participation in a Statewide Food Safety Certification Program
HACCP-based Fingertip Rinse Procedure
An Evaluation of the Retail Inspection Process
in Oklahoma
Self-reported
Changes in Food Safety Practices as a Result of Participation in a Statewide
Food Safety Certification Program
Dana M. McElroy and
Catherine N. Cutter*
Department of Food Science, Pennsylvania State University, 111 Borland Laboratory,
University Park, PA 16802, USA
SUMMARY
In July 2004, a Pennsylvanian regulation will require any establishment that
prepares or serves potentially hazardous foods and possesses a food license
to have one member of its supervisory staff attend and pass an approved food
safety course. In an effort to assist with the training for this regulation,
the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) has developed a Statewide Food Safety
Certification Program (SFSCP) that utilizes the National Restaurant Association’s
ServSafe® curriculum. To measure self-reported behavior changes as a result
of attending the SFSCP, a survey was sent to 1,448 students who had completed
the SFSCP between January 2001and May 2001. The response rate was
42%, with the majority of respondents being managers or chefs\cooks. For
the statements: “Likelihood of Practicing Food Safety Techniques Before and
After Attending Training” and “Likelihood of Using a Thermometer to Check Food
Temperature Before and After Penn State University Food Safety Certification
Training,” survey participants used the following responses: “very likely,”
“moderately likely,” “slightly likely,” and “not very likely.” For statements
addressing food safety behavior before training, survey respondents answered:
“practiced,” or “did not practice.” For statements addressing food safety behavior
changes as the result of training, survey respondents answered: “no change,”
“started practicing,” or “practicing more often.” Results from the survey
indicated that although the majority (86%) of respondents were only “moderately
likely” to practice food safety techniques before training, 93% of respondents
reported they were “very likely” to practice food safety after training.
For participants who reported not participating in various food safety practices
before training, the top five areas of self-reported behavior change as a result
of the training included calibrating thermometers (81%), cleaning and sanitizing
between tasks (79%), ensuring proper hand washing (78%), checking foods with
calibrated thermometers (70%), and reheating foods to 165°F (70%).
HACCP-based
Fingertip Rinse Procedure
O. Peter Snyder, Jr.
Hospitality Institute of Technology and Management, 670 Transfer Road, Suite
21A, St. Paul, Minnesota 55114, USA
SUMMARY
Fingers are frequently used to handle raw chicken on a cook’s line. Raw, fresh
chicken is often contaminated with vegetative pathogens such as Salmonella and Campylobacter
jejuni. These pathogens can thus be transferred to fingers that touch raw
chicken pieces and must be reduced to a safe level before the fingers touch
other food products, particularly ready-to-eat food.
A handwashing
sink, even in close proximity, is often not convenient for the frequent hand
washing necessary to prevent cross-contamination. A possible solution
to this food safety problem is described by the following simple procedure.
The workstation is provided with a bucket containing 4 liters (4,000 ml) of
bacteriostatic solution (water acidified to pH 3.5 with 5% acetic acid [vinegar]).
A cloth, approximately 12 inches by 12 inches, is placed in the solution and
used by the cook to wipe hands and fingers, thus providing the friction necessary
for pathogen removal. Bacteria on fingers are reduced to a safe level,
and the acetic acid (vinegar) solution dilutes the bacteria and inhibits bacterial
growth. This study reports on an experimental test of this fingertip rinse
procedure.
An
Evaluation of the Retail Inspection Process in Oklahoma
Brenda L. Elledge,* Robert A.
Lynch, Daniel T. Boatright, and Margaret L. PhillipS
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, College of Public Health, Department
of Occupational and Environmental Health, 801 NE 13th, Oklahoma City, OK 73104;
*CHB Room 417, 801 NE 13th, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA
SUMMARY
Bacterial pathogens have been shown to cause the largest percentage of foodborne
outbreaks in the United States. The most commonly reported practices that contributed
to outbreaks were improper holding and storage temperatures in retail establishments
and poor personal hygiene of food handlers. While food sanitation and
the protection of the public on a day-to-day basis must be done by the food
industry, local regulatory agencies are responsible for seeing that the task
is accomplished. Retail inspection is the primary tool a regulatory agency has
for detecting procedures and practices that may be hazardous and for taking
action to correct deficiencies. Given that industry and regulatory agencies
rely fundamentally on the retail inspection process to assure food safety at
the retail level, it was postulated that a policy-to-performance void exists,
primarily through process fragmentation, indicating that roles and responsibilities
are not executed in the manner established through food safety policy.
The research effort included the design, collection and statistical evaluation
of a questionnaire distributed through direct mail to Registered Sanitarians-Environmental
Health Specialists and County Health Department Administrators in the state
of Oklahoma. Results revealed a measurable difference in the implementation,
understanding and evaluation of the retail inspection process related to areas
of policy, implementation and compliance. Most notably, only approximately half
of those surveyed use the currently adopted Food Code; only 66% of sanitarians
recognize that the state agency is responsible for implementation of policy,
and the majority of sanitarians view themselves as responsible for compliance
contrary to administrator perception of the State Health Department.
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