Progress 09/01/08 to 08/31/13
Outputs
Target Audience: English and Spanish-speaking employees of food retail and grocery establishments. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Part A:In 2009, we convened a project Steering Committee consisting of food safety professionals who work in or with the retail grocery industry, to provide logistical support to the project. Committee discussions focused on current educational programs being conducted at grocery/retail outlets, educational gaps associated with current food safety programming, and assessment of their food safety educational needs. The Steering Committee discussions were used to focus our educational efforts for grocery stores and small food retailers (e.g. <30 employees, <5 establishments) that may benefit from food safety education for employees who may not read English well or who primarily speak Spanish. Part B:A food safety education needs assessments was developed for retail grocery workers who use English or Spanish as their primary language. The needs assessment collected information on worker demographics, existing food safety knowledge, previous food safety training, literacy level, preferred educational delivery methods, and applicability of current educational materials. Part C: We developed bilingual (English/Spanish) food safety graphic signs, and studied their comprehensibility and most effective delivery mechanism for presentation to food handlers. The food safety concepts developed into images were: 1) cross-contamination, 2) proper use of thermometer to check temperatures of foods, 3) proper cooling of foods, and 4) do not work with food if ill. The four food safety concepts were designed in three different formats: pictures only, pictures with words (English/Spanish), and lenticular (images that shift when viewed from different angles). The food safety signs were evaluated by individuals working in the food retail industry. The participants were divided into two groups according to native language (English or Spanish). The ranking of comprehensibility of the signs was: cross-contamination (93%), thermometer (84%), cooling (64%) and not working if ill (33%). Low literacy levels as well as deficiencies in food safety training indicated a low understanding of the latter two of the sign concepts, and calls for food safety educational programs and materials that emphasize these concepts. Correct responses for sign presentation were as follows: pictures and words with (80%), pictures only (65%) and lenticular (62%). Comparison of three different formats indicated pictures with words as the most effective presentation. This study can be used as the basis for designing effective food safety signage for food handlers whose primary language may or may not be English. Also, this study contributes to understanding the roles of literacy and food safety training in the comprehensibility of food safety messages. Part D: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 store deli-bakery employees in Southwest and Southern Virginia. This research had two phases. In Phase I: employees completed a thirty-four question needs assessment survey concerning background, food safety training needs, preferences and knowledge. In Phase 2: 15 employees (from phase 1 locations) food behaviors were observed for approximately six hours each. 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 knowledge of safe food handling; however, the observational behavior data indicates behaviors do not reflect their knowledge. Greater than 95 percent understanding was found on the subjects of hand washing and glove use, however, bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods and lack of hand washing prior to glove use were the items most often observed as practiced incorrectly. This study can be used as a basis for creating more effective food safety training efforts for retail or grocery food handlers. 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 other current training programs offered to these employees. Part E:Foodborne illness is a major concern for retail industries. This issue is compounded by lack of food safety training, cultural differences, and language barriers. In this study, researchers developed a customized, Spanish food safety training program that was used with employees of delicatessens (carnicerías) in Reading, Pennsylvania. The training program was designed to increase retention of food safety knowledge, improve attitude, alter behavior, and increase skills. Initially, needs assessments of employees were conducted by concealed-direct observations, a demographic survey, and a manager preference survey. Needs assessment data were used to develop a customized “counter-top” food safety training program that included images and oral supplementation in Spanish and addressed common food safety issues occurring in the carnicerías. Due to the low literacy level of participants, training was conducted on site via face-to-face (FTF) and in Spanish. The inclusion criteria for the carnicerías required that they have a meat display case, a meat slicer, employees >18 years, and employees who spoke Spanish as their first language. The findings of this study demonstrated that food safety attitude and behavior changes were not significant, although numerical improvements were observed. While many participants were illiterate and only spoke Spanish, the training program did successfully increase knowledge and teach proper food safety skills, indicating an intervention can be created for nearly any audience. A “counter-top” food safety training program could impact positively on retail establishments to improve food safety practices of their low literacy, Spanish-speaking, employees. The increased knowledge and improved food safety skills should benefit directly the citizens who use the carnicerías on a daily basis, in part because of the decreased risk of foodborne illness that results from the increased knowledge. Part F: We developed, printed and distributed the "Serving Safe Food" food safety training program for low literacy, Spanish-speaking workers in the retail grocery and foodservice industries. This training program is written in both English and Spanish and includes the following 6 lessons: The ABC’s of food safety at the grocery store Personal hygiene Handwashing and glove usage The flow of foods in the grocery store – Purchasing, receiving & storing The flow of foods in the grocery store – Handling, preparation, cooking & displaying Sanitation practices at the grocery store This educational tool can be used by grocery stores, supermarkets and convenience stores to train their Spanish-speaking employees in short periods of time. This flipchart training program contains strategies that take into account specific cultural attributes of Hispanic workers in the industry. The “Serving Safe Food” program can be presented to individual employees by any department supervisor, quality control personnel, Extension educators, and/or industry consultants who wish to conduct food safety training at a food retail establishment. English and Spanish speaking workers can be trained using this program.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
A. E. Richard, J. L. Brown, R. B. Radhakrishna, E. P. Yoder, S. Nieto-Montenegro, and C. N. Cutter. 2013. Development and Implementation of a "Counter-Top" Training Program to Increase Retention of Food Safety Knowledge, Alter Behavior, Improve Attitude and Increase Skills of Spanish-speaking Retail Employees. Food Protection Trends, 33(1):10-19.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Robertson, L., Boyer, R., Chapman, B., Eifert, J. and Franz, N. 2013. Educational needs assessment and practices of grocery store food handlers through survey and observational data collection. Food Cont. 34(2):707-713.
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Progress 09/01/11 to 08/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The overall goal of this project is to develop, evaluate and deliver educational materials and training programs to enhance retail or grocery store food safety. Retail grocery industries may not be able to allocate sufficient time, money or personnel toward food safety training for their employees. Additionally, high employee turnover and increasing numbers of workers who do not read English well are important barriers to effective training. This project will emphasize grocery stores or supermarkets since they not only have these concerns, but also are increasingly conducting more in-store food preparations, such as slicing, cooking, packaging, and cold-holding. In 2012, one project goal was to enhance the effectiveness of Spanish language ServSafe food safety training for food retail establishments. The ServSafe Food Protection Manager Certification is a nationally recognized and accredited food safety training course for employees who work at restaurants, retail, deli stores and other foodservice outlets. Most counties in Pennsylvania require that there should be at least one certified employee at each food establishment and the certified manager must be accessible at all times during facility operation hours. The ServSafe food safety training program is owned by the National Restaurant Association and more than 3 million people have been certified to date. To improve the pass rates of the ServSafe certification exam taken by Spanish-speaking employees of food retail establishments, we applied basic adult education principles and spent more face-to-face time in the classroom with enrolled students. In 2012, we conducted six Spanish language ServSafe courses, and additional courses will be conducted in 2013. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Hispanic and/or Spanish-speaking workers in food retail and foodservice industries. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
For the ServSafe food safety program, any person who wishes to get certified as a food safety manager should pass the ServSafe test with a 75 percent score. Hispanics tend to have a lower rate of passing test scores in this program. The improved instructional efforts have led to higher average test scores, greater retention of knowledge, and a higher pass rate on the ServSafe exam. We will complete an in-depth study of test scores and pass rates after we complete additional Spanish training courses in 2013. The strategies used for the Spanish language ServSafe certification tests will enable more restaurant managers and other employees to pass the exam and to ultimately enhance food safety practices in their establishments.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 09/01/10 to 08/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The goal of this project is to develop, evaluate and deliver educational materials and training programs to enhance retail grocery store food safety. Retail grocery industries may not be able to allocate sufficient time, money or personnel toward food safety training for their employees. Additionally, high employee turnover and increasing numbers of workers who do not read English well are important barriers to effective training. This project will focus on grocery stores or supermarkets since they not only have these concerns, but also are increasingly conducting more in-store food preparations, such as slicing, cooking, packaging, and cold-holding. One student earned an M.S. degree in Food Science and Technology. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Foodborne illness is a major concern for retail industries. This issue is compounded by lack of food safety training, cultural differences, and language barriers. In this study, researchers developed a customized, Spanish food safety training program that was used with employees of delicatessens (carnicerias) in Reading, Pennsylvania. The training program was designed to increase retention of food safety knowledge, improve attitude, alter behavior, and increase skills. Initially, needs assessments of employees were conducted by concealed-direct observations, a demographic survey, and a manager preference survey. Needs assessment data were used to develop a customized "counter-top" food safety training program that included images and oral supplementation in Spanish and addressed common food safety issues occurring in the carnicerias. Due to the low literacy level of participants, training was conducted on site via face-to-face (FTF) and in Spanish. The inclusion criteria for the carnicerias required that they have a meat display case, a meat slicer, employees >18 years, and employees who spoke Spanish as their first language. The food safety "counter-top" training program included four different assessments: knowledge, attitude, behavior, and performance of a skill (hand washing). The assessments were given pre-training (2 weeks prior), post-training (2 weeks after) and delayed- post training (3 weeks after the post-test). The findings of this current study demonstrated that food safety attitude and behavior changes were not significant, although numerical improvements were observed. While many participants were illiterate and only spoke Spanish, the training program did successfully increase knowledge and teach proper food safety skills, indicating an intervention can be created for nearly any audience. A "counter-top" food safety training program could impact positively on retail establishments to improve food safety practices of their low literacy, Spanish-speaking, employees. The increased knowledge and improved food safety skills should benefit directly the citizens who use the carnicerias on a daily basis, in part because of the decreased risk of foodborne illness that results from the increased knowledge.
Publications
- Richard, A. 2011. Development and implementation of a counter-top training program to increase retention of food safety knowledge, alter behavior, improve attitude, and increase skills of spanish-speaking retail employees. M.S. Thesis, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA
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Progress 09/01/09 to 08/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The goal of this project is to develop, evaluate and deliver educational materials and training programs to enhance retail grocery store food safety. Retail grocery industries may not be able to allocate sufficient time, money or personnel toward food safety training for their employees. Additionally, high employee turnover and increasing numbers of workers who do not read English well are important barriers to effective training. This project will focus on grocery stores or supermarkets since they not only have these concerns, but also are increasingly conducting more in-store food preparations, such as slicing, cooking, packaging, and cold-holding. 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 store 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. Observational data collection focused on glove use, cross-contamination, and hand washing. One student earned an M.S. degree in Food Science and Technology. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
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 knowledge of safe food handling; however, the observational behavior data indicates behaviors do not reflect their knowledge. Greater than 95 percent understanding was found on the subjects of hand washing and glove use, however, bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods and lack of hand washing prior to glove use were the items most often observed as practiced incorrectly. This study can be used as a basis for creating more effective food safety training efforts for retail or grocery food handlers. 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 other current training programs offered to these employees.
Publications
- Robertson, L.A. 2010. Assessment of educational needs and current practices of front-line grocery employees in the deli and bakery. M.S. Thesis, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA.
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Progress 09/01/08 to 08/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The goal of this project is to develop, evaluate and deliver educational materials and training programs to enhance retail grocery store food safety. Retail grocery industries may not be able to allocate sufficient time, money or personnel toward food safety training for their employees. Additionally, high employee turnover and increasing numbers of workers who do not read English well are important barriers to effective training. This project will focus on grocery stores or supermarkets since they not only have these concerns, but also are increasingly conducting more in-store food preparations, such as slicing, cooking, packaging, and cold-holding. In 2009, we convened a project Steering Committee consisting of food safety professionals who work in or with the retail grocery industry, to provide logistical support to the project. Committee discussions focused on current educational programs being conducted at grocery/retail outlets, educational gaps associated with current food safety programming, and assessment of their food safety educational needs. Additionally, we developed bilingual (English/Spanish) food safety graphic signs, and studied their comprehensibility and most effective delivery mechanism for presentation to food handlers. The food safety concepts developed into images were: 1) cross-contamination, 2) proper use of thermometer to check temperatures of foods, 3) proper cooling of foods, and 4) do not work with food if ill. The four food safety concepts were designed in three different formats: pictures only, pictures with words (English/Spanish), and lenticular (images that shift when viewed from different angles). Food safety education needs assessments are under development for retail grocery workers who use English or Spanish as their primary language. The needs assessments will collect information on worker demographics, existing food safety knowledge, previous food safety training, literacy level, preferred educational delivery methods, and applicability of current educational materials. One student earned an M.S. degree in Food Science and Technology. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
Based on the Steering Committee discussions, we will focus our educational efforts on small food retailers (e.g. less than 30 employees, less than 5 establishments), and small food retailers that may benefit from food safety education for employees who may not read English well or are Spanish speaking. The food safety signs were evaluated by individuals working in the food retail industry. The participants were divided into two groups according to native language (English or Spanish). The ranking of comprehensibility of the signs was: cross-contamination (93%), thermometer (84%), cooling (64%) and not working if ill (33%). Low literacy levels as well as deficiencies in food safety training indicated a low understanding of the latter two of the sign concepts, and calls for food safety educational programs and materials that emphasize these concepts. Correct responses for sign presentation were as follows: pictures and words with (80%), pictures only (65%) and lenticular (62%). Comparison of three different formats indicated pictures with words as the most effective presentation. This study can be used as the basis for designing effective food safety signage for food handlers whose primary language may or may not be English. Also, this study contributes to understanding the roles of literacy and food safety training in the comprehensibility of food safety messages.
Publications
- O'Connor, S. 2009. Development and Evaluation of Food Safety Signs. M.S. Thesis, Virginia Tech.
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