acase@tulane.edu / There are an estimated 48 million cases of foodborne illness per annum in the United States, with a majority of the illnesses associated with eating in a restaurant. Previous research into the causes of foodborne illness have primarily focused on factors that are internal to the restaurant. This research examines both internal components as well as external factors from the surrounding community that could influence how a food establishment operates.
Inspection data, providing the basis for this analysis, came from routine inspection reports from Maricopa County, Arizona and the State of Florida. Additional evaluations are from randomly sampled restaurants, containing information on the occurrence of specific risk factors for foodborne illness, captured from States A and B. External community demographic data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey was also used.
The routine inspection data was analyzed using a general estimating equations approach, and the risk factor study data was analyzed via a tobit regression. This approach allowed for the identification of the specific variables and their relative effect on the food safety performance of the establishment
The only external factor to have an influence on restaurant food safety performance was the level of market competition, both near the restaurant and at a further distance from the restaurant. Other socio-demographic variables of the area were not found to have a significant effect. Internal factors, such as the level of food-handling and the food-safety related training held by employees were found to have an effect on the restaurants food safety performance.
This study has shown the utility in assessing the compliance status of each risk factor, and the limitations of only using a count of violations. Additionally, concordant with most facilities operating in a sanitary manner, large sample sizes are required to identify an effect from a covariate. / 1 / Adam Kramer
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TULANE/oai:http://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/:tulane_72585 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Contributors | Kramer, Adam (author), (author), Steinberg, Joni (Thesis advisor), (Thesis advisor), School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine Global Health Management and Policy (Degree granting institution), NULL (Degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Tulane University |
| Source Sets | Tulane University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | electronic, 86 |
| Rights | No embargo, Copyright is in accordance with U.S. Copyright law. |
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