Grocery store associates in the deli-bakery departments serve and prepare an increasing amount of ready-to-eat foods. This increases the need for a detailed, effective food safety training program in retail grocery establishments to prevent food borne illness. This research examines food safety knowledge, training preferences, needs, and current practices of grocery stores deli-bakery employees in Southwest and Southern Virginia. This research had two phases. Phase I: employees completed a thirty-four question needs assessment survey concerning background, food safety training needs, preferences and knowledge. Phase 2: 15 employees (from phase 1 locations) food behaviors were observed for approximately six hours each (89.05 hours total). Observational data collection focused on glove use, cross-contamination, and hand washing. The results showed that most grocery food handlers desired hands-on, interactive and one-on-one training that occurs frequently, but is short: less than two hours in length. Overall, most grocery food handlers had general safe food handling knowledge; however, the observational behavior data indicates behaviors do not reflect their knowledge. Greater than 95% understanding was found on the subjects of hand washing and glove use; however, these items were observed practiced incorrectly the most with bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods and lack of hand washing prior to glove use. The creation of short, hands-on or interactive trainings for retail grocery food handlers that focuses on changing food handling and preparation behaviors may be more effective than current training. / Master of Science in Life Sciences

Every consumer has the right to food that is safe and fit for consumption. Diseases transmitted by foods increase the costs of health care and of the investigation of outbreaks. They can be damaging to trade and tourism by reducing revenues thereby leading to unemployment, or through lawsuits. The food production chain is very critical in its various stages, and certainly is responsible to the larger outbreaks of foodborne diseases, arising in most cases from a deficiency in the facilities, the absence of control in the acquisition of raw materials and the lack of training of the food handlers, both in terms of hygiene and personal presentation in the aspects of reception, storage, preparation, maintenance and distribution of meals. The growth in providers of food services in Brazil is around 20% per annum, which implies changes and innovations arising from our own society, the production sectors, forms of practice, legal codes and quality control systems. Aiming at contributing to the quality of meals sold, this study discusses aspects related to Best Practices in Food Handling, applied to the Unidades Produtoras de Refeições of lodging facilities, specifically hotels, in Maceio, capital of Alagoas State. Criteria related to Best Practices in Food Handling was collected, in loco, by applying a prepared check list based on the relevant legislation of the Ministry of Health, which establishes procedures for best practice in food production so as to ensure the hygienic-sanitary conditions of food ready for consumption. This thesis is divided into two chapters, the first being a literature review which presents the relevant legislation, its criteria with respect to food handlers and the good practices to be implemented during the production process of the meals. The second chapter refers to a research study showing the correlation between outcome variables related to employees and production processes, in addition to ranking considering the size of the lodging facilities surveyed. The results showed that the lodging facilities, regardless of size, meet the criteria of the relevant legislation to a certain degree. Of medium to large hotels, classified in Group II, between 51% to 75% met the legal requirements; and the smaller facilities, in Group III, between 0% and 50% in the two aspects evaluated. / Todo consumidor tem direito a alimentos inócuos e aptos para o consumo. As doenças transmitidas por alimentos aumentam os custos com os cuidados na saúde e com a investigação de surtos e podem ser danosas ao comércio e ao turismo, diminuindo receitas, causando desemprego ou processos judiciais. A cadeia produtiva dos alimentos é muito crítica em suas diversas etapas e, certamente, é a maior reponsável por surtos de doenças de origem alimentar, decorrentes na maioria das vezes da deficiência das instalações, da falta de controle na aquisição das matérias primas e da falta de capacitação da maioria dos manipuladores de alimentos, tanto no aspecto de higiene e apresentação pessoal quanto aos aspectos de recepção, armazenamento, preparo, manutenção e distribuição das refeições. O crescimento dos serviços de alimentação no Brasil está em torno de 20% ao ano, o que implica em transformações e inovações decorrentes da própria sociedade, dos setores produtivos, das formas de conduta, dos códigos legais e dos sistemas da qualidade. Visando contribuir com a qualidade das refeições comercializadas, este estudo discorre sobre os aspectos relativos às Boas Práticas na Manipulação de Alimentos, aplicados a Unidades Produtoras de Refeições de meios de hospedagem, especificamente na hotelaria, de Maceió, capital do Estado de Alagoas. Os critérios relacionados às Boas Práticas na Manipulação dos Alimentos foram levantados, in loco, através da aplicação de check list elaborado com base na legislação pertinente do Ministério da Saúde, que estabelece procedimentos de Boas Práticas em alimentação para garantir as condições higiênico-sanitárias do alimento pronto para consumo. Os resultados revelaram que os meios de hospedagem, independente do porte, cumprem parcialmente os critérios da legislação pertinente. os hotéis de médio e grande portes foram classificados no grupo II, por atenderem aos requisitos legais em percentuais que variam entre 51% a 75% e os de pequeno porte no Grupo III, com atendimento percentuais entre 0% e 50% nos dois aspectos avaliados.

Globally, investigations into food-borne illnesses show that the majority of cases involve poor hand hygiene of the food handler. The challenge of providing safe food therefore requires new strategies for evaluating cross-contamination of pathogenic micro-organisms on the food handler's hands, which might be detrimental or hazardous to the health of the patient Although food-borne diseases may be multifactorial in aetiology, no standards or evaluation systems, such as an occupational health surveillance programme, are available to monitor and ensure that food is free of pathogens. The formulation and implementation of standards may contribute to ensuring that food handlers comply with hand hygiene practices during food handling. Such practices guarantee that food reaching the patient is safe. The objectives in this research project originated from the occupational health practice and gave direction of the empirical research project. The literature was reviewed to discover what is currently known concerning the food handlers' hand hygiene during food handling and food-borne illnesses and the theoretical framework gave direction and guidance to the survey design of the empirical research, which was quantitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual in nature. The food handlers from the food preparation sections of the four major healthcare services in Potchefstroom, in the North West Province, South Africa, were the target population and the sampling method was all-inclusive (n=110). Eighty (75.47%) food handlers participated in the research project. The design entailed three steps. The first was conducted with a questionnaire, to identify the food handlers' compliance with hand hygiene during food handling. The second step involved determining the prevalence of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus on the food handlers' hands. The results were used for the formulation of standards for the hand hygiene of food handlers. Finally, recommendations for practice, education and research were made. The implementation of these recommendations could contribute knowledge to the body of nursing and promote good hand hygiene practices in the healthcare service. / Thesis (M.Cur.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Globally, investigations into food-borne illnesses show that the majority of cases involve poor hand hygiene of the food handler. The challenge of providing safe food therefore requires new strategies for evaluating cross-contamination of pathogenic micro-organisms on the food handler's hands, which might be detrimental or hazardous to the health of the patient Although food-borne diseases may be multifactorial in aetiology, no standards or evaluation systems, such as an occupational health surveillance programme, are available to monitor and ensure that food is free of pathogens. The formulation and implementation of standards may contribute to ensuring that food handlers comply with hand hygiene practices during food handling. Such practices guarantee that food reaching the patient is safe. The objectives in this research project originated from the occupational health practice and gave direction of the empirical research project. The literature was reviewed to discover what is currently known concerning the food handlers' hand hygiene during food handling and food-borne illnesses and the theoretical framework gave direction and guidance to the survey design of the empirical research, which was quantitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual in nature. The food handlers from the food preparation sections of the four major healthcare services in Potchefstroom, in the North West Province, South Africa, were the target population and the sampling method was all-inclusive (n=110). Eighty (75.47%) food handlers participated in the research project. The design entailed three steps. The first was conducted with a questionnaire, to identify the food handlers' compliance with hand hygiene during food handling. The second step involved determining the prevalence of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus on the food handlers' hands. The results were used for the formulation of standards for the hand hygiene of food handlers. Finally, recommendations for practice, education and research were made. The implementation of these recommendations could contribute knowledge to the body of nursing and promote good hand hygiene practices in the healthcare service. / Thesis (M.Cur.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Magister Scientiae (Nutrition Management) - MSc(NM) / Introduction: The significant link between mental health and nutrition throughout one’s life cannot be overstated. Yet this strong association is often neglected in the public healthcare sector in South Africa, particularly in the case of people who are being treated for various types of mental illness. It is therefore important to prioritise nutrition care through efficient and effective hospital food services in public psychiatric facilities. Although hospital settings are often perceived to provide efficient clinical care, the food provided to patients by hospital food service units is often criticised for being bland, repetitive and/or unhealthy. At times, too, inadequate food budget allocations by provincial health departments or poor supply chain management practices result in patients receiving inadequate quantities of food at mealtimes, which might lead to their becoming malnourished during their hospital stays. For psychiatric patients in particular, malnutrition can have serious short and longer-term consequences.

Food-borne illnesses are responsible for disease globally. One of the most important strategies for combating food-borne diseases is the training of food handlers. Using social cognition theory as a framework, the purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the mandatory training program for food handlers in a rural parish in Jamaica. A cross-sectional survey, using self-administered questionnaires, was used to assess and compare food safety knowledge and self-reported practices of food handlers trained in 2 government training programs, while using untrained food handlers as controls. Descriptive and inferential statistics such as t test, chi-square test, and ANOVA were used to explore relationships between training and knowledge and practice. According to study results, trained food handlers had a statistically significant higher mean knowledge score (65.61% vs. 59.0%, p < 0.05) and mean practice score (67.40% vs. 60.35%, p < 0.05) than untrained food handlers, although these scores were significantly lower than the minimum acceptable standards of 70%. Results of this study may assist policy makers in designing effective training programs for food handlers, which should ultimately lead to a safer food supply for the consuming public and a reduction in food-borne disease outbreaks in Jamaica.

MPH / Department of Public Health