Progress 09/15/07 to 01/15/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Products: The most significant outputs for this project are the computer based training program and food safety attitude and behavior measurements for Latino restaurant employees. The computer based training program is called "Comida Salud" which means "Healthy Food." The program is available in English and Spanish in a CD and on the internet. The CDs were created for restaurant owners and managers with limited access to the Internet. It has three sections; the first section emphasizes cooking temperature and encourages using a thermometer to check cooking temperature. The second section focuses on proper storage and cross contamination. The third section covers personal hygiene and mixing food for salad bar. Each section contains multiple scenes along with short quizzes and reinforcements. We designed the program to re-emphasize the food safety knowledge and promote behavioral changes. We applied a quasi-experimental design to measure the effectives of the training program. There were two groups, treatment and control. The treatment group received the training program and the control group did not. Both groups were asked to answer questions regarding food safety prior to training. Participants in the treatment group were asked to watch and participate in the training program right after they completed the questionnaire. All participants were asked to return to fill out the post-questionnaire within a week from the time they completed the pre-questionnaire. The pre and post questionnaires contains five sections and 70 questions about attitude toward food safety, knowledge, and practices at work. We also developed a food safety behavior check-list for restaurant managers to evaluate participants' food safety behavior at work. The check list contains three sections with 20 questions. The managers had no knowledge of who were in treatment or control groups. The managers evaluated the participated employees' food safety behavior a week after the employees completed the pre-questionnaire. Activities: Throughout this project, we conducted focus group discussions with 78 Latino participants. This group discussion was conducted to explore attitudes toward food safety among Latino restaurant workers. A survey was conducted with 397 Latino employees to measure factors that influence their food safety attitude, knowledge, and practices. Another survey to evaluate the effectiveness of the training program was carried out with 123 participants. Of 123 Latino restaurant employees, 60 participated in the training program. Dissemination: The CDs were disseminated to restaurant owners and managers in Missouri and Las Vegas. The training program is also being promoted and disseminated through the Centro Latino in Columbia, MO. The Centro Latino is a local non-profit organization for Latinos and provides legal, medical, and health supports for Latinos. In addition, the training program is being disseminated through the Greater Kansas City Hotel Association. Brochures containing information about the training program and findings from this project are being mailed to restaurants in Missouri and Las Vegas. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences were Latinos working in restaurants in the USA. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Most significant findings are food safety knowledge does not affect Latino restaurant employees' food safety behavior and the computer based training program has positive impacts on promoting more proper food safety behavior. Latino restaurant employees perform more proper food safety behavior when they perceive their behavioral changes would benefit their restaurant's reputation and make managers/supervisor more satisfied. The computer based training (CBT) program improved Latino employees' knowledge, attitude toward food safety and food safety behavior. Those who received the training scored higher in questions for cooking temperature, personal hygiene and use of a thermometer. Most significant findings are all of those (100%) who received the training answered correctly regarding the cooking temperature for ground beef compared to those who did not receive the training (76%). For cooking temperature for chicken breast, the treatment group showed 85% of correctness compared to 48% in the control group. All of the participants (100%) in the treatment group answered correctly for checking a food's internal temperature, compared to only 84% in the control group answered correctly. However, only 74% of the treatment group participants answered correctly that it is okay to thaw frozen foods in a room temperature, but much lesser number of the control group participants answered correctly for the same question (48%). The CBT has positive impacts on Latino restaurant employees' food safety behavior. Participants in the treatment group indicated that they performed more proper food safety behaviors than those in the control group. In particular, all (100%) of the treatment group participants indicated that they always discard food that is past its expiration date and use a food thermometer to check cooking temperature while only 81% and 88% of the control group participants said so, respectively. 96% of the treatment group participants indicated they always store raw meat, poultry, and seafood away from ready-to-eat foods in the refrigerator, compared to 80% of the control group. 100% of the treatment group reported that they always rinse fruits and vegetables compared to 88% of the control group. The managers' observation also revealed that employees in the treatment group performed more proper food safety practices than those in the control group. In particular, all of the Latino employees (100%) who received the CBT always washed and dried hands before and after handling food, compared to 91% in the control group. The treatment group participants always cleaned and covered any cuts or burns compared to only 86% of the control group participants. Managers reported that 94% of the treatment group always stored raw meat, poultry, and seafood away from ready-to-eat food in the refrigerator compared to 86% of the control group employees did. All of the treatment group employees always cooked beef, veal, or lamb until it reaches an internal temperature of 155 oF, compared to 94% of the participants in the control group always did so.
Publications
- Kanagui, M., Garriott, P., Flores, L., & Cho, S., Groves, J. (2012). Latina/o Food Industry Employees: Barriers, Facilitators, Motivators, Training Preferences and Perceptions of Work. Journal of Career Development, 39(1), 118-139.
- Cho, S., Hertzman, J., Erdem, M., & Garriott, P. (2012). Development of a food safety belief model for Latino(a) foodservice employees. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research (In-press).
- Erdem, M., Hertzman, J., Cho, S., & Kitterlin, M. (2009). Identifying training needs of Hispanic foodservice employees: A qualitative inquiry approach. Journal of Business and Behavioral Sciences, 21(1), 80-91.
- Cho, S. (2010). Changing Food Safety Behavior among Latino(a) Food Service Employees. Invited Paper The 9th International Conference of Food Science and Technology (ICFST), Hangzhou, China
- Liu, B., & Cho, S. (2012). Modelling Food Safety Practices among Chinese in the United States Using Theory of Planned Behaviour. Food Protection Trends. (Submitted)
- Liu, B., & Cho, S. (2011). Food Safety Practices among Chinese in the U.S. The Graduate Education & Graduate Students Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism, Houston, TX.
- Cho, S., Hertzman, J., Erdem, M., & Garriott, P. (2010). Changing Food Safety Behavior Among Latino(a) Food Service Employees. The Food Safety Belief Model. The 2010 International CHRIE Conference. San Juan, Puerto Rico.
- Erdem, M., Cho, S., Hertzman, J., & Kitterlin, M. (2008). Identifying training needs of Hispanic Foodservice employees: A qualitative approach. 16th Annual Meeting of American Society of Business and Behavioral Sciences, Las Vegas, NV.
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Progress 09/15/10 to 09/14/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: There are five major outputs during this report period. We developed more scripts in English and Spanish for actual training scenes and narratives for the computer-based-training (CBT) program. The additional scenes and narratives were filmed and recorded during this period. Using the video scenes and voice files, the CBT program is under development. The completion of the CBT program has been delayed for the technical difficulties. We hired a graduate student in the computer science to complete the training program. However, his skills were not sufficient enough for this task. Thus, we hired a professional computer- based-training program developer to finish the training program. The PI, Seonghee Cho, has created graphics for the training program. Manuscripts were written/revised/re-submitted to journals and conference proceedings. In addition, a brochure explaining the findings of the survey has been created and will be disseminated to the local food service industry and city and county health departments. We also developed instruments to measure the effectiveness of the training program on food handlers' behavior. The instrument has two components, items completed by food handlers and behavioral change check list completed by supervisors/managers. We will collect data on these items when the CBT is completed. PARTICIPANTS: Cho, Seonghee (PI) led the meetings and the research activities. Erdem, Mehmet (Co-PI) led the research activities occurred in Las Vegas, NV. Hertzman, Jean (PI) assisted the project in terms of food safety knowledge and shooting the videos. Centro Latino is a non-profit organization in Columbia, MO and helped us to collect the data from Latino(a) restaurant employees in Missouri. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Since we developed additional scripts, filmed additional video scenes and voice files during this report period, we do not have outcomes or impact to report. However, having the CBT under development, we have approached by the Kansas City Lodging Association to share the training program and provide it to food handlers working in hotels and restaurants in Kansas City as a training tool.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 09/15/09 to 09/14/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: We conducted a survey using a measurement developed based on the Food Safety Belief Model. A total of 397 Latino(a) restaurant employees completed the survey. The results of this survey were presented at the ICHRIE (International Council on Hotel Restaurant Institutional Education) in Puerto Rico in August 2010. We developed a 20-page long, single spaced script for the computer based food safety training program for the Latino restaurant employees. We created the scripts with an emphasis on perceived severity, susceptibility, benefits, and cues to action. The scripts were specifically developed to reinforce food safety behavior. The script is consisted of three sections. The first section shows the general issues and problems of food safety and focuses on the use of a thermometer and cooking temperature. The first section targets two food safety behaviors which are 1. Employee is able to properly use the thermometer by sticking it in the thickest or largest part of the item. 2. Employee reheats food using the correct method. The second section targets nine food safety behaviors. They are 1. Employee cooks chicken, vegetables, and ready-to-cook foods to the proper temperature. 2. Employee stores food properly. 3. Employee discards food that is expired. 4. Employee washes hands before work, after touching raw foods, and when changing preparation jobs. 5. Employee wears gloves properly. 6. Employee washes cutting boards and knives properly. 7. Employee washes fruits and vegetables properly. 8. Employee uses tasting spoons properly. 9. Employee does not mix batches of foods. The third section is the review section, targeting the food safety behaviors reinforced by the section 1 and 2. We completed shooting videos for the training program during this period. We recorded over 100 scenes in English and Spanish. As of September 2010, we are in the process of completing two-way interactive video training program. PARTICIPANTS: Cho, Seonghee (PI) led the meetings and the research activities. Erdem, Mehmet (Co-PI) led the research activities occurred in Las Vegas, NV. Hertzman, Jean (PI) assisted the project in terms of food safety knowledge and shooting the videos. Centro Latino is a non-profit organization in Columbia, MO and helped us to collect the data from Latino(a) restaurant employees in Missouri. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
The results of analyzing the data of 397 Latino restaurant employees showed the interaction of food safety knowledge (FSK), perceived severity (PSV), perceived susceptibility (PSC), perceived barriers (PBR), perceived benefits (PBN), self-efficacy (SEC), cues to action (CAC), and food safety behavior (FSB). The conventional belief regarding food safety behavior is that the more knowledgeable about food safety a person is, the more likely they will be to perform proper food safety behavior. Thus, many food safety studies have focused on increasing food safety knowledge. However, out data revealed that food safety knowledge actually did not affect food safety behavior. Instead, results obtained from this project indicate that FSK predicts PSV, PSC, and PBR, and that PBN predicts food safety behavior. These results imply that Latino(a) restaurant employees became more aware of the serious consequences of foodborne illness and of how easily they could contract foodborne illness when they obtained more FSK. The results also show that FSK minimizes the employees perceptions of the barriers preventing them from conducting proper food safety practices. However, the increased PSV and PSC and decreased PBR that result from increased FSK did not affect the employees FSB. Instead, the Latino(a) employees FSB was increased by perceived benefits. The results imply that when the Latino(a) restaurant employees think following proper food safety practices could increase customers satisfaction, managers satisfaction, and the efficiency in kitchen, they tend to demonstrate better food safety behavior. This finding is interesting because it shows that concern about management and customer satisfaction is more of a motivating factor than the perceptions of severity of or susceptibility to foodborne illness. The above results may be attributed to cultural characteristics of the Latino(a) population. Authors have noted that collectivist cultures, such as those found in Mexico and other Latin American countries tend to focus on the interests of a group, a family, or extended relationships rather than on individual interests (Santiago-Rivera, Arredondo, & Gallardo-Cooper, 2002). This cultural difference could explain why Latino(a) restaurant employees tend to follow more proper food safety practices when it can benefit the community (their restaurant) by increasing customers and managers satisfaction.
Publications
- Kanagui, M., Garriott, P., Flores, L., & Cho, S. (2010). Latina/o Restaurant Industry Employees: Barriers, Facilitators, Motivators, Training Preferences, and Perceptions of Work. Journal of Career Development. (accepted)
- Cho, S., Hertzman, J., Erdem, M., & Garriott, P. Changing Food Safety Behavior Among Latino(a) Food Service Employees: The Food Safety Belief Model. The 2010 International CHRIE Conference. San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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Progress 09/15/08 to 09/14/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Four activities were completed to achieve the objective 1 and objective 2; one event (conference) was carried out; one product (a survey instrument and training graduate students) was developed. Activities: 1. Focus group data analysis was completed to determine the needs areas for food safety. The data analysis included five steps. (1) Transcription and translation: The focus group discussions were transcribed and translated in English for an analysis. (2) Bracketing: Two coders identified and processed their biases and expectations related to the topic under investigation prior to data analysis. (3) Horizonalization: Two coders identified significant statements and quotes relevant to the experience and reviewed extracted statements and discard those that seem to be overlapping, repetitive, or vague. (4)Clustering: Two coders clustered group statements into core themes and categories. The coders determined textural and structural descriptions of the experience. (5) Validation: An internal auditor check the final textural and structural descriptions and provided feedback. With the feedback, the coders finalized the textural and structural descriptors. 2. Questionnaire development was completed to develop a training process that is effective in changing Hispanic employees attitudes and behavior toward food safety. 3. Health belief model was employed to develop a training process. 4. Training the same graduate students was continued and one more Ph.D. student and one Master student were recruited. Event: The result of the focus group analysis was presented at the ICHRIE (International Council on Hotel Restaurant Institutional Education) in San Francisco in August 2009. Product: A 6-page survey instrument was developed. PARTICIPANTS: Dr. Audrey McCool was replaced with Dr. Jean Hertzman at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. During the current reporting period, Dr. McCool became too busy with her work at another school; she was not able to continue working on this project. I found Dr. Hertzman at UNLV for the food safety knowledge expert and invited her to join in this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: I found it was very difficult to recruit Latino/a employees. I first proposed to recruit them through restaurant managers, but it was not so successful recruiting through managers. We sent out about 350 mails to restaurants and received only 5. Of 5, three of them said that they did not have Hispanic employees. We also made phone calls to follow-up, but we were not able to obtain more restaurants to participate. Therefore, we sought help from a local Hispanic community organization to recruit Hispanic employees. The same problem occurred for survey respondents recruitment. At this time, we indicated that we would provide a complimentary copy of the training program when it is completed, but the participation was extremely low. Thus, we went back to the local Hispanic organization for the survey administration. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: We hired a local Hispanic non-profit organization to recruit participants.
Impacts
Focus Group Data Analysis: Seven themes were identified, food safety knowledge, organizational barriers, facilitators, motivational cues, cultural context, attitudes toward food safety and training preferences. The analysis revealed that the participants possessed food safety knowledge in sanitation, contamination and pathogens causing foodborne illness. The participants also expressed that organizational support was a positive reinforcement for food safety practice. However, there were several barriers which prevent them from practicing proper food safety. They were time, language, negative perceptions of training and co-workers behavior and attitude. We found an interesting fact in relation to cultural context. The participants' attitude toward food safety varied due to cultural practices. The participants perceived that individuals from the USA were more susceptible to foodborne illness than those from Mexico. The participants also expressed that food safety was not needed as much in Mexico as it was in the USA. The participants were motivated to practice food safety due to their endorsement of culture-specific work values such as following rules, responsibilities, and pride. A manuscript for this focus group is under preparation and will be submitted to Journal of the American Dietetic Association. Instrument A 6-page of survey instrument was developed using a health belief model. We chose the health belief model for a basis of training program. The health belief model explains factors needed to change individuals' health behavior. The model includes perceived severity, perceived susceptibility, perceived benefit, perceived barriers, self-efficacy, and cues to action. We also developed questions about learning style, food safety at work, food safety at home, and demographic information. A total of 100 questions were included in the survey instrument.
Publications
- Erdem, M., Cho, S., Hertzman, J., & Kitterlin, M. (2008). Identifying training needs of Hispanic Foodservice employees: A qualitative approach. 16th Annual Meeting of American Society of Business and Behavioral Sciences, Las Vegas, NV.
- Cho, S., Erdem, M., Flores, L., Groves, J., Hertzman, J., Garriott, P., & Kanagui, M. (2009). Food Safety Behavior Change Model among Latino Restaurant Employees: A Qualitative Study. The International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education, San Francisco, CA.
- Erdem, M., Hertzman, J.*, Cho, S., & Kitterlin, M. (2009) Identifying training needs of Hispanic Foodservice employees: A qualitative inquiry approach. Journal of Business and Behavioral Sciences (In-press)
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Progress 09/15/07 to 09/14/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Recruiting Focus Group Participants We utilized several methods to recruit focus group participants. First, we sent a recruitment letter to restaurant managers in Kansas City, MO, Columbia, MO and Las Vegas, NV. The recruitment letter includes general information about the project, the importance of manager assistance and asks that enclosed Spanish and English language recruitment letters be provided to their Latino workers. This recruitment effort did not yield a significant response. Therefore, we expanded our recruitment effort to the local Latino community by contracting Latino organizations in Kansas City, MO and Columbia in MO to recruit Latino restaurant workers. These organizations have strong connections with the local Latino population. This multi-facet recruitment effort yielded 49 participants in Missouri and 29 participants in Nevada. Conducting Focus Group Discussions We conducted five focus group discussions in July: two in Missouri and three in Nevada. Along with the focus group discussions, we collected general information, including education level, age, tenure in the U.S., food safety training, survey response scale preference. We hired three Ph.D. students and one Master's degree student and have trained each individual to conduct a literature review, develop study questions and protocols, and conduct focus group discussions. All these students have remained on the study and have become very familiar with the project. We researched previously published studies in food safety attitudes and knowledge, health beliefs, self efficacy, and learning styles among Latinos. We found that there is a lack of research in these fields with regard to the Latino population. Thus, we have used previous studies conducted with the general population to develop a questionnaire for the main survey. The project was presented at The Intentional Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education conference held from July 23 to July 27 in Atlanta, GA in 2008. Instruments All instruments were developed in English and translated in Spanish. A meticulous effort was made to develop focus group questions and protocols which were culturally appropriate. The focus group questions include seven categories: health beliefs, food safety knowledge, attitude regarding food safety, cultural beliefs about food safety, learning styles, self-efficacy, and job environment barriers. We used previous research to develop the questions in these categories. In addition to the focus group discussion questions, a short survey was also developed. The questionnaire includes 10 questions about participants' gender, age, tenure in the U.S., nationality, education level, work experience, food safety training, working hours, current job position, and preferred survey response scale. A website was developed and published, and is available here: http://www.foodsafetyeducation.net/index.html. We developed a project site in Blackboard at the University of Missouri for the purpose of sharing information among researchers. A local network TV affiliate covered and presented a news story on the project, and two local newspapers have reported on the project. PARTICIPANTS: Seonghee Cho is a PI of this project and leads a regular project meeting at University of Missouri (MU). Her tasks include (1) preparing and submitting Institutional Review Board (IRB) applications to MU and the Certificate of Confidentiality application to National Institutes of Health, (2) recruiting activities including, preparation and mailing of recruitment letters, hiring of local Latino organizations, and generally working to establish relationships with Latino communities for purposes of this project in Kansas City, MO and Columbia, MO, (3) all budgeting activities, (4) review and processing of personnel change applications, (5) leading the regular meeting, (6) preparing project presentations and publications, (6) and general management of the research team. Mehmet Erdem is a co-PI. His role includes (1) recruiting focus group participants and conducting the focus group discussions in Las Vegas, NV, (2) management of the research team at the University of Las Vegas, Nevada (UNLV), (3) preparation and submission of Institutional Review Board (IRB) applications to UNLV, (4) recruitment of restaurants for site observation, and (5) preparation of conference presentations and publications. Audrey McCool is a co-investigator. Her role has been to develop a questionnaire for site observations. Lisa Flores is a co-investigator. Her role is to participate in developing focus group questions and protocols and to provide her expertise on the Latino population, focus group research design and self-efficacy. James Groves is a co-investigator. His role is to participate in the development of focus group discussions and protocols. Patton Garriott is a Ph.D. student recruited for this project. His role includes review of literature on health beliefs, attitudes toward food safety, and food safety knowledge and the investigation of qualitative data analysis technique for the focus group discussions. Marlen Kanagui is a Ph.D. student recruited for this project. Her role includes translation of the instruments in Spanish, conducting focus group discussions, and review of literature on self efficacy and health beliefs among Latinos. Lin Liu is a Master student. His role includes the development of a project website and the investigation of current food safety training programs. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
The recruitment activities have yielded some important findings. We have learned that recruiting Latino participants is very challenging. Most restaurant general managers were not surprisingly somewhat protective in terms of providing access to their employees. In addition, many Latino workers did not show up for the focus group discussions despite their promises and several confirmations made by the researchers. We did not investigate why the workers did not show up, but were told by other researchers with knowledge of relevant cultural factors that no-shows by Latino participants was not rare. The best remedy for the no shows was to provide transportation. Therefore we began to pick up participants up from their work places and provide return transportation to work.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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