The foodservice industry is dependent on millions of employees daily to ensure proper and safe food handling of food products consumed by the general public. The State of Texas requires food establishments’ management or person in charge be trained in food protection. For this inquiry, the researcher studied the knowledge level gained by food mangers from two food companies and two certification courses. There were 90 food service operations that participated in the study. The data was collected through the use of a food safety knowledge test instrument. The scope of the study was to explore the level of food safety knowledge of two self-selected certified food managers in Texas. Sixty-five percent (65.6%) of the certified food managers were certified by course A and 34.4% were certified by course B. The researcher explored two educational theories that are often utilized in the agricultural education discipline. Adult education and training programs in agriculture should use appropriate and effective instructional methods. Creswell and Martin (1993) inferred a linkage between adult education and instructional design as it related to agriculture. This study explored the phenomenon regarding certified food manager training courses and knowledge level through certification. In agricultural education, lives are affected through education and training. Trede and Wade (1993) suggested that agricultural education helps people improve their lives through an educational process using scientific knowledge. The participants’ knowledge test scores were as follows: course A (n=59) 72.9% and course B (n=31) 69.0%. The resulting t-test was determined to the knowledge test score of course A and course B, and proved not to be statistically significant at an alpha level .05. Thus, the researcher concluded instructional design and adult learning theory did not have an impact on the knowledge level of participants as a result of the two self-selected courses for certified food manager training in this study. Food safety knowledge of participants who spoke English or Korean as their native languages were analyzed closely as they represented the largest population of the participants. Korean as a native language represented the largest group at 45.6% of the population. English as a native language represented the second largest group at 43.3% of the population. Certified Food Manager Training is offered in these languages throughout Texas. Differences were found within the participants’ native or first languages. The certified food managers who identified as English and Korean native or first language resulted a statistically significant comparison when analyzed via independent t-test. The researcher recommends further research on affects of native language on certified food manager training. This research study discusses potential improvements that may be implemented in future research for certified food management training. The scope of this study utilized two self selected courses that were available to the participating certified food managers. For example, the Food Safety Knowledge Test instrument which was developed specifically for the scope of this research. Although this instrument was only used once it served as a suitable tool for this research project and could serve as a guide for the development of future research instruments. The researcher suggests that future researchers consider utilizing a tested and established research instrument. A study with a broader scope including courses supported by other National and State level accreditation organization as well as increasing the number of participant; may yield additional findings.

<p>High-school-aged youths have limited food safety knowledge and lack safe food-handling skills. However, these youths will prepare food for themselves and are frequently employed in the food service industry, where their food-handling practices can directly impact public health. Youths’ beliefs about safe food-handling behaviors are affected by Key Influencers in their lives such as peers, classroom instructors, parents, and celebrities including popular web-content authors or video hosts. Societal changes have prompted the elimination of Family and Consumer Science courses from many schools and the reduction of food-handler role models at home, while increasing access to unregulated sources of food-handling information such as information published on web-based platforms. These societal changes largely remove peers, classroom instructors, and parents from influencing youths’ food-handling behaviors. </p> <p>The purpose of this study was to (1) evaluate the effectiveness of a researcher-developed food safety educational intervention at changing students’ food-handling behaviors specifically focusing on the role of subjective norms in generating behavior change and (2) conduct an exploratory content analysis of food safety messages delivered by blog authors and video hosts of popular web-content. </p> <p>The researcher-developed curriculum was evaluated for adherence to academic standards and overall usability in the classroom using the Delphi Technique by a panel of secondary educators who were considered experts in the education field. The curriculum was evaluated for effectiveness at changing high school students’ food-handling behaviors through self-reported surveys and observation using GoPro head mounted and stationary cameras. Finally, content analysis was performed on food safety messages disseminated by authors and video hosts of popular blogs and YouTube videos, respectively. </p> Findings from the study demonstrated that youths’ food-handling behaviors are affected by Key Influencers including their peers and classroom instructor. However, post-intervention, a role-reversal was observed and reported as students became influencers who sought to improve their Key Influencers’ food-handling behaviors. Differences in influencing power within these relationships could impact the sustainability of youths’ safe food-handling behaviors. In particular, imbalances in influencing power of celebrities in the absence of other Key Influencers could leave students vulnerable to adopting unsafe food-handling practices.

<p>  </p> <p>Food safety educators and specialists are committed to closing the food safety education gap among different actors in the supply chain, from farm to fork. To accomplish it, they have to understand the needs of the target population to disseminate information and develop interventions. This thesis is divided into three case studies to explore needs assessments (Ch. 1 and 2) and program evaluation (Ch. 3). The first needs assessment (Ch.1) was developed due to a recent multistate outbreak linked to dried wood ear mushrooms. This study evaluated YouTube video content on the preparation of different wood ear mushrooms dishes and investigated the food safety risk associated with the handling practices. Practices such as rehydration procedures were identified as key food safety risk factors that need future exploration. The second needs assessment (Ch.2) was developed due to the impact of small- and medium-sized farms on USA agriculture. This study aimed to understand consumers’ perceptions and expectations of produce from small- and medium-sized farms and their desire to pay a premium price for food safety information. The findings showed that consumers perceived the produce from these farms to be fresher and of higher quality. Also, they considered food safety as a minimum quality standard and valued produce safety information. Finally, multiple needs assessments have shown that low-income populations, including minority groups, have unique barriers to adopting food safety practices. The third study (Ch.3) evaluated a dialogue-based virtual food safety program for English- and Spanish-speaking low-income populations using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Findings suggest that the TPB helped to discern the behavior change intentions of this population and showed that the intervention was able to increase participants’ knowledge, attitudes toward the behavior, perceived behavioral control (PBC), subjective norms, and behavior change intentions. Future work could modify the program to fit other minority populations in the USA.</p>

Restaurant managers complete certification in food safety in order to ensure that food is handled and prepared in a manner that decreases risk factors associated with food-borne illness. However, the literature has been inconclusive concerning the connection between manager certification and the incidence of critical food-safety violations. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between the presence or absence of a certified food safety manager (CFSM) and the number of risk factors cited on food inspection reports and the food safety score. In addition, this study was designed to determine whether operation type (i.e., chain vs. independently owned) has an impact on the number of risk factors and food safety score. This study was an analysis of 2013 data from 1,547 restaurants in North, Central, and South Georgia health districts using a 2-tailed independent-sample t test. Restaurants with a CFSM had significantly more risk factors cited on food safety inspections and lower food safety scores than restaurants without a CFSM. There was also a significant difference among chain and independent restaurants. Chain restaurants had fewer risk factors cited on restaurant inspections and had higher food safety scores. In the epidemiological triangle model, breaking the chain of transmission disrupts the link among agent, host, and environment. Thus, CFSMs have the responsibility to implement food safety training programs to break the chain of transmission by identifying and correcting unsafe food practices among food workers. This study has the potential to assist managers in understanding the importance of food safety and implementing food safety training programs that decrease risk factors associated with food-borne illness. Further research is needed to explore the effectiveness of manager certification in reducing critical violations.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Human Nutrition / Valentina M. Remig / Preventing foodborne illness and promoting safe food practices among all age groups is a high priority, particularly for college students because little about their food safety awareness and food handling practices has been reported. The research aim was to evaluate food safety attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, and self-reported practices of current upper-division college students, and to determine whether a three-module interactive educational intervention, developed for this study, positively influenced these variables. Comparisons between health and non-health majors were made. Two methods of data collection were used with volunteer health and non-health majors: focused food safety discussion groups during academic year 2004-05, and a pre-experimental design. Prior to engaging in either method, students completed an on-line food safety questionnaire (FSQ), adapted from a telephone survey used at K-State with older adults. The FSQ was administered again to those in the pre-experimental design group one week after exposure to the food safety educational intervention. Five weeks later, the FSQ was administered to determine whether changes in attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, and self-reported practices persisted over time. Focused food safety discussion group responses were qualitatively evaluated. Pre-experimental statistical analyses included Wilcoxin Signed Rank, Friedman, Mann-Whitney U, Chi Square tests, and Spearman rho. Focused discussion group findings indicated that students perceived themselves at low risk for foodborne illness; few used food thermometers; students without health backgrounds mimicked undesirable home practices; and students stated being open to changing non-recommended behaviors. Pre-experimental findings showed the effects of intervention were improved food safety attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge, with the strongest effects seen in health majors. Students' FSQ attitude scores increased from 114 to 122 (P<0.001), FSQ belief scores increased from 86 to 98 (P<0.001), and FSQ knowledge scores increased from 11 to 13 (P<0.001). Intervention resulted in some improved food safety self-reported practices for health majors but not non-health majors. Intervention module post-test scores improved significantly for all students; health majors had greater increases. Conclusions. Focused food safety discussion groups were useful for obtaining food safety information from college students; educational intervention improved college students’ food safety attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge and for health majors, some self-reported practices improved.