Attitudes and Knowledge of Food Safety Among Santa Clara County, California Restaurant Operators

Abstract

The idea for a food safety study within the restaurant population was brought to light by Joan Giampaoli, M.S., R.D. The study's query began with the intent to bridge the gap between those restaurant operators who know about food safety yet do not practice it and those who not only know food safety principles, but actually put them to use. It was brought to our attention that eliciting truthful responses to actual restaurant practices would be extremely difficult. Consequently, the query became “what differences occur between restaurants with excellent environmental health code records and those having difficulty with food safety.” Due to good timing and luck, the Department of Environmental Health, Consumer Protection Division of Santa Clara County, California, was in the process of examining their own inspection procedures and welcomed us as partners. The data collected from the study was useful to them in assessing the effectiveness of their current foodservice education program, identifying additional educational methods for restaurant operators, and in revising their inspection process. A follow‐up study is planned after implementing these changes. Food safety and foodborne illness prevention are both a high priority with the Department of Environmental Health, Consumer Protection Division (DEH, CPD) in Santa Clara County, California. With the rising incidence of foodborne illness outbreaks across the United States it is imperative that restaurant foodservice operators become not only concerned with the dangers of foodborne illness, but also knowledgeable about how to prevent outbreaks. To measure attitude and knowledge regarding food safety, three hundred surveys were mailed to two separate restaurant operator populations in Santa Clara County, California. The two populations were separated by distinguishing favorable and unfavorable health code violation records dating between January 1994 and January 1995. Those restaurants with favorable health code records were hypothesized to be highly concerned and knowledgeable regarding food safety in comparison to restaurants with unfavorable health code records. Total response rate for the survey was 20.6%. Results of the survey indicated that restaurants with favorable health code records reflected a significantly higher level of concern and knowledge regarding food safety with a p<0.05. It was concluded that restaurant operators possessing the necessary knowledge and an appropriate attitude and concern towards food safety are practicing these principles on a more frequent basis as evidenced by favorable health code records.

Appreciation of Food Safety Practices Based on Level of Experience

“…Cochran-Yantis, Belo, Giampaoli, McProud, Everly, and Gans (1996) reported that restaurant managers who had a favorable attitude toward food safety were more likely to score higher on inspection reports, while the converse holds true for those who do not have a favorable attitude. Hwang, Almanza, and Nelson (2001) extended this idea into school foodservice and found knowledge, training, and practice were all factors that led managers to be more favorable toward implementing Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), a food safety program.…”

“…Attitudes toward food safety programs have been well researched (e.g., Cochran-Yantis, Belo, Giampaoli, McProud, Everly, & Gans, 1996;Hwang, Almanza, & Nelson, 2001;Roberts & Sneed, 2003). Cochran-Yantis, Belo, Giampaoli, McProud, Everly, and Gans (1996) reported that restaurant managers who had a favorable attitude toward food safety were more likely to score higher on inspection reports, while the converse holds true for those who do not have a favorable attitude.…”

Intervention improves restaurant employees' food safety compliance rates

“…Food safety training is associated with increased knowledge among foodservice operators (Lynch et al, 2003), and foodservice operators with better restaurant inspection scores have more knowledge and more favorable attitudes about food safety compared to operators with poor inspection scores (Cochran-Yantis et al, 1996). However, food safety knowledge is not always practiced by foodservice employees (Howes et al, 1996).…”

Identifying Specific Beliefs to Target to Improve Restaurant Employees' Intentions for Performing Three Important Food Safety Behaviors

“…Training increases knowledge (6) and improves attitudes for food safety (9,10), but rarely improves behavior (11)(12)(13)(14)(15). Food safety trainers, including RDs and DTRs, must identify strategies to minimize the gap between knowledge and action.…”

“…These beliefs can be targeted in interventions to improve compliance with safety guidelines. While past studies identified factors that influence food safety behaviors (9,(16)(17)(18)(19), no previous research explored the relative importance of such factors for multiple behaviors. …”