No description available.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Hospitality Management / Kevin R. Roberts / Ethnic foods have gained in popularity and have become mainstream in the diet of most Americans. However, researchers have noted that ethnic food, specifically food served in ethnic restaurants, has been associated with foodborne outbreaks. Little has been done using the Social Cognitive Theory to predict food safety behaviors, especially in independent ethnic restaurants. The purpose of this study was to determine whether self-efficacy, self-regulation, outcome expectations, and environmental determinants are predictive of self-reported food safety behaviors in independent ethnic restaurants. Utilizing a thorough literature review and results of five focus group and group interviews, a questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire was translated to Chinese and Spanish and back-translated to English to ensure consistency. After pilot-testing, a multistage random sampling technique was utilized to collect data, targeting a total of 150 food handlers from independent Mexican and Chinese restaurants. A total of 204 food handlers responded, but due to incomplete data or responses from non-food handlers, 201 responses were usable for a response rate of 80.4%. A multiple regression analysis investigated the prediction of food safety behavioral intentions based on the respondents’ self-efficacy, self-regulation, outcome expectations, and environmental determinants and found the model was significant (F = 75.246, p = 0.002). The significant independent variables in the model were self-regulation (β = 0.467, p = 0.001), environmental determinants (β = 0.181, p = 0.011), and outcome expectations (β = 0.152, p = 0.018), which explained about 60.6 % of the variance in food safety behavioral intentions. Self-efficacy was not significant (β = 0.078, p = 0.219). A mediation analysis showed that behavioral intentions are a significant mediator of the relationships between self-efficacy and self-reported food safety behaviors (b = 0.24, CI [0.161, 0.336], self-regulation and self-reported food safety behaviors (b = 0.252, CI [0.155, 0.366]), outcome expectations and self-reported food safety behaviors (b = 0.355, CI [0.247, 0.469]), and environmental determinants and self-reported food safety behaviors (b = 0.269, CI [0.172, 0.393]). Implications, limitations, and direction for future research were discussed.

Unsafe food handling practices are implicated in many restaurant-associated foodborne disease outbreaks. Factors that contribute to unsafe food handling in restaurants include inadequate food safety knowledge, employees who perceive that safe food handling is not under their control, and restaurant cultures that do not prioritize food safety. The purpose of this study was to determine whether temporary restaurant closures were associated with reduced food handling violations after closure in restaurants from the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and the Fraser Health Authority, in British Columbia, Canada. The theoretical foundations used were the health action process approach and the theory of planned behavior. Mixed-effects Poisson regression analyses showed that the typical restaurant had an estimated 16% increase in the average number of overall food handling violations per inspection after temporary closure, compared with before closure. Restaurant- and employee-related factors responsible for unsafe food handling practices likely result in the continuation of unsafe food handling practices, despite temporary restaurant closures. This study may contribute to positive social change by challenging the assumption that temporary restaurant closures motivate food handlers to improve their food handling practices. To protect the public's health, additional interventions must follow temporary restaurant closures for reasons such as insanitary conditions and improper food handling. Suggested interventions include the provision of targeted learning resources to restaurant managers, the issuing of directives requiring food handlers to attend recognized food safety training courses, and environmental health managers requiring a reduction in problematic menu items.

<p>  </p> <p>Food safety researchers and extension workers are focused on educating the different actors of the supply chain, from farm to fork. To accomplish this, researchers identify areas of improvement and investigate the factors that cause or explain food safety behaviors. This thesis is divided into a systematic literature review with a meta-analysis and qualitative synthesis (Ch. 2), then two case studies that use predictive models to find top predictors of food safety behaviors (Ch.3 and 4). The systematic review (Ch.2) investigates online food safety educational programs and their effectiveness, barriers, and recommendations on different subpopulations of students, consumers, and food workers. The findings showed a limited effect on attitudes in the different subpopulations. Several areas for future research and recommendations for educators were identified. The first case study (Ch.3) developed predictive models of different food safety behaviors at ten time points throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings suggest an effect between changes in COVID-19 case numbers and how well attitudes related to COVID-19 can make predictions. Additionally, findings suggest the importance of attitudes when predicting food safety behaviors. Lastly, results identified that the belief that handwashing protects against foodborne illness was more important than the belief that handwashing protects against COVID-19 when predicting handwashing at most time points. These findings can identify insights into consumer behaviors during the pandemic and several possible areas for future research. The second case study (Ch. 4) developed predictive models of consumer flour handling practices and consumer awareness of flour-related recalls and how they are affected by the total number of flour-related recalls for a state where the consumer lives. Findings identified the importance of risk perceptions in predicting consumer flour handling practices. Results also showed that younger consumers were predicted to be more likely to be aware of flour recalls than consumers of older ages. Lastly, results show that the total number of flour-related recalls for a state where the consumer lives do not affect predictions. Findings identify potential challenges to recall communication and areas for future studies.</p>