Purpose: To conduct direct observational study of individuals handling raw poultry in their homes to determine the various risk factors that can contribute to the spread of Salmonella in the kitchen environments. In addition, administer survey questionnaires to ascertain individual’s knowledge of safe poultry handling practices.
Methods: A convenient samples of 51 individual households were included in the study. Participating subjects were asked to prepare any meal of their choice starting with fresh raw poultry. Followed the observational study, survey questionnaires were administered. Notational analysis was used to transcribe the observed food handling behavior into quantifiable risk factors.
Results: Participating individuals were knowledgeable of poultry handling practices, but their observed poultry handling practices were significantly inferior to their knowledge of food safety. Less than 25% of individuals were observed properly washing their hands before and after handling raw poultry. All of the individuals on the survey reported that they wash their hands before and after handling raw poultry. Food handling practices leading to direct and/or indirect cross contaminations were observed in 100% of the observations. While, only less than 5% of individuals measured final cook temperatures before consumption, all of the individuals, checked for internal consistency of cooking and duration of time.
Significance: Cross contamination of hands, kitchen utensils, the environment, and devices (e.g., cell phones, I-pods, laptops), continue to occur during poultry handling. People's knowledge of food handling does not appear to translate fully into practice.