Food safety education initiative to increase consumer use of food thermometers in the United States

McCurdy, Sandra M.; Takeuchi, Masami T.; Edwards, Zena; Edlefsen, Miriam; Kang, Dong‐Hyun; Mayes, V. Elaine; Hillers, Virginia N.

doi:10.1108/00070700610688403

Cited by 31 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…We found that consumers are much more likely to use a food thermometer for roasts than for smaller cuts of meat like chicken parts and hamburgers. This result is consistent with other research that has found that consumers are resistant to using food thermometers, especially for small cuts of meat (1, 11,17,22,27). Some of the main barriers include that it is difficult to use most food thermometers on small cuts of meat since the tip of the thermometer must be inserted deep enough into the meat to get an accurate temperature and that, in general, food thermometers are hard to calibrate (13).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

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Trends in Ownership and Usage of Food Thermometers in the United States, 1998 through 2010

Lando

Chen

2012

Journal of Food Protection

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Food safety research has shown that the use of a food thermometer is the best way to ensure that meat, poultry, and other foods reach an internal temperature sufficient to destroy foodborne pathogens. The 1998, 2001, 2006, and 2010 Food Safety Surveys were used to analyze changes in food thermometer ownership and usage for roasts, chicken parts, and hamburgers in the United States. A probit regression model was used to evaluate differing trends in ownership across demographic subgroups, and probit models with sample selection were used to evaluate differing trends in food thermometer usage for roasts, chicken parts, and hamburgers. The Food Safety Surveys are nationally representative telephone surveys tracking consumers' food safety attitudes and behaviors. Findings from these surveys indicate that the percentage of consumers who own food thermometers has increased from 49% in 1998 to 70% in 2010 (P < 0.05). The use of food thermometers has also increased over this time period but varies by food type. Of those who own food thermometers, a higher percentage reported using thermometers for roasts (76% in 1998 and 82% in 2010, P < 0.05) than for chicken parts (33% in 1998 and 53% in 2010, P < 0.05) and hamburgers (14% in 1998 and 23% in 2010, P < 0.05). The results also show that men, non-Hispanic whites, those with some college education or higher, those with higher incomes, and those 65 years and older were more likely to own food thermometers. After controlling for food thermometer ownership, those aged 18 to 29 years were more likely to use a food thermometer for roasts and chicken parts than those aged 65 to 101 years. The results suggest that educational programs encouraging food thermometer usage should focus first on food thermometer ownership.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

“…Previous research examining consumer food handling habits has found that use of food thermometers is relatively low (1 , 11,17,22,27). However, few studies have used nationally representative data to investigate trends of ther mometer usage over time.…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

Trends in Ownership and Usage of Food Thermometers in the United States, 1998 through 2010

Lando

Chen

2012

Journal of Food Protection

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“…All the studies identified through electronic database searching were reported in published journal articles. Partial results from two studies (Takeuchi et al, 2005a;Takeuchi et al, 2005b) were also reported in a section of another somewhat larger paper examining food thermometer usage (McCurdy et al, 2006). For the purposes of this paper the studies were only discussed as a part of the original papers as they contained greater detail.…”

Section: Literature Search Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consumer food safety education for the domestic environment: a systematic review

Milton

Mullan²

2010

British Food Journal

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PurposeDespite the recognised importance of food-safety, a large number of consumers do not practice adequate food-safety in the home. Many studies have recommended that education is a key step in preventing food borne illness in the domestic environment. However, few educational or psychosocial interventions have been designed and implemented to improve food-safety knowledge, attitudes and behaviours. Even fewer of these studies have been subject to rigorous appraisal. A systematic review of studies that described and evaluated a food-safety intervention in a non-clinical adult sample was conducted. Design/methodology/approachA total of ten studies met the criteria for inclusion in the systematic review. Outcomes of interest included food-safety behaviour, behavioural intention, attitudes, knowledge, microbial transfer and the use of Social Cognition Models. FindingsThe evidence regarding the effectiveness of the reviewed interventions on these food-safety outcomes was somewhat positive, however, many gaps remained. For example, of the 5 selfreport behaviour change studies all reported some significant improvement post intervention.However, the percentage of specific behaviours that significantly changed within each study varied between 0.04 to 100%. There were methodological flaws in many of the studies which complicated the interpretation of these results and indicate a need for more research. Research limitations/implications3 Future research should include better defined outcomes, longer follow-up, more rigorous reporting of results and intervention design, the use of randomised controlled trial protocols, and utilising health models to have a greater theoretical underpinning to the studies. Originality/valueThis is the first systematic review examining the effect of psychosocial food-safety interventions on behaviour, attitudes and knowledge.

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“…temperature for the required time, and checking doneness by measuring the internal temperature using a thermometer McCurdy et al, 2006). Only 22.37% of NoI respondents and 21.69% of YesI respondents answered correctly, while the majority (NoI, 77.63%; YesI, 78.31%) relied on sensory observation.…”

Section: Cooking and Food Consumptionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Foodborne disease risk factors among women in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Alsayeqh

2015

Food Control

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Food safety education initiative to increase consumer use of food thermometers in the United States

Cited by 31 publications

References 22 publications

Trends in Ownership and Usage of Food Thermometers in the United States, 1998 through 2010

Trends in Ownership and Usage of Food Thermometers in the United States, 1998 through 2010

Consumer food safety education for the domestic environment: a systematic review

Foodborne disease risk factors among women in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

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