Understanding consumers' food safety practices and knowledge supports food safety education for the prevention of foodborne illness. The objective of this study was to describe Canadian consumer food safety practices and knowledge. This study identifies demographic groups for targeted food safety education messaging and establishes a baseline measurement to assess the effectiveness of food safety interventions over time. Questions regarding consumer food safety practices and knowledge were included in a population-based telephone survey, Foodbook, conducted from November 2014 to March 2015. The results were analyzed nationally by age group and by gender. The results showed that approximately 90% of Canadians reported taking the recommended cleaning and separating precautions when handling raw meat to prevent foodborne illness. Only 29% of respondents reported using a food thermometer when cooking any meat, and even fewer (12%) reported using a food thermometer for small cuts of meat such as chicken pieces. The majority (>80%) of Canadians were aware of the foodborne illness risks related to chicken and hamburger, but fewer (<40%) were aware of the risks related to frozen chicken nuggets, alfalfa sprouts, soft unpasteurized cheese, and unpasteurized juices. Generally, men were less likely to follow cooking instructions on packaging and took fewer steps to prevent cross-contamination than women. The youngest (18 to 29 years) age group was less likely to take steps to avoid cross-contamination and was less aware of the risks associated with eating an undercooked hamburger. The oldest (60+ years) respondents were less likely to be aware of the risks associated with raw eggs, alfalfa sprouts, and unpasteurized juice than the middle (30 to 59 years) age group. As a priority, food safety education in Canada should focus on increasing people's awareness of high-risk foods, specifically foods for which the awareness of risk found in this study was low; targeting messaging to demographic groups as appropriate; and promoting the use of food thermometers when cooking meat and poultry.
Contexte : Lors des enquêtes sur les éclosions de maladies d’origine alimentaire, la comparaison des fréquences des expositions aux aliments des cas avec celles d’une population témoin peut aider à déterminer les sources alimentaires suspectes. L’Agence de la santé publique du Canada (l’Agence) a mené un sondage en ligne entre février et avril 2015 afin de recueillir des données sur l’exposition aux aliments pendant sept jours à partir d’un échantillon de commodité. La période de l’étude a coïncidé avec un sondage téléphonique au hasard à l’échelle nationale sur l’exposition de la population. Un sous-ensemble de questions sur l’exposition aux aliments provenant du sondage téléphonique a été inclus au sondage en ligne. Objectif : Les objectifs du sondage en ligne étaient les suivants : 1) décrire la méthodologie du sondage, les répondants et le comportement de réponse; et 2) déterminer si la méthodologie en ligne est une solution de rechange aux sondages téléphoniques en comparant les expositions aux aliments. Méthodes : Le lien vers le sondage en ligne a été distribué par courrier électronique aux partenaires et aux employés de la santé publique, et a fait l’objet de promotion sur le site Web de l’Agence et dans les médias sociaux. Résultats : Au total, 2 100 sondages ont été réalisés. La majorité des répondants étaient des femmes, âgées de 30 à 39 ans, ayant un revenu et un niveau d’éducation élevés. La proportion de personnes ayant déclaré avoir consommé des produits alimentaires dans le cadre du sondage en ligne était généralement plus élevée que dans le sondage téléphonique, avec une différence moyenne de 6,0 % (IC à 95 % : 4,2, 7,8). Conclusion : Dans une enquête sur une éclosion, le biais de 6,0 % pourrait rendre plus difficile la détection d’une différence entre le cas et le témoin des expositions aux aliments. Néanmoins, compte tenu de la rapidité des réponses et des dépenses plus faibles des sondages en ligne ainsi que de l’échantillon volontaire, compétent et commode, un biais de 6,0 % est considéré comme suffisamment faible pour être acceptable pour les sondages futurs.
Background: During foodborne illness outbreak investigations, comparing food exposure frequencies of cases to those of a control population can help identify suspect food sources. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) conducted an online survey between February and April 2015 to collect seven-day food exposures from a convenience sample. The study period overlapped with a national, population-based exposure survey being conducted via telephone using random digit dialling. A subset of the food exposure questions from the telephone-based survey was included in the online survey. Objective: The online survey study objectives were to: 1) describe the survey methodology, survey respondents and response behaviour; and 2) determine if the online methodology is an appropriate alternative to telephone surveys by comparing food exposures. Methods: The online survey link was distributed via email to employees and public health partners, and was promoted on the PHAC website and social media channels. Results: In total 2,100 surveys were completed. The majority of respondents were female, with high income and education, aged 30 to 39 years. The proportion reporting consuming the food items in the online survey was generally higher than those reported in the telephone survey, with a mean difference of 6.0% (95% CI: 4.2, 7.8). Conclusion: In an outbreak investigation, the 6.0% bias could make it more difficult to detect a difference between the case and control food exposures. Nevertheless, given the speed of response and lower resource expenditure of online surveys as well as the willing, able and convenient sample, a bias of 6.0% is considered small enough to be acceptable for future surveys.
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