Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate tailgaters’ food-handling behaviors.
Methods: Participants completed a written food safety questionnaire which included subscales previously developed and validated using food safety expert input, pilot study feedback, measures of internal consistency, and principal components analysis. Food-handling behaviors were measured using the Cross Contamination Subscale (5 items) and the Sanitation Subscale (3 items). Perceived threat was measured using the Perceived Severity of Foodborne Illness Subscale and the Perceived Susceptibility to Foodborne Illness Subscale. The Susceptibility Subscale (3 items) measured beliefs related to one’s own risk of developing a foodborne illness while the Severity Subscale (5 items) measured beliefs regarding the seriousness of the consequences that could occur should one develop a foodborne illness. Higher food-handling scores and higher perceived threat scores indicated safer food-handling and greater threat respectively. Spearman rank correlation coefficients and t-tests were used to measure the strength of the association between variables.
Results: A total of 125 completed surveys were collected from eligible participants who are 18 years old and above and participated in a college football tailgating activity. The age of participants was 32.31 ± 16.41. Most were male (54.4%), white (81.3%), and completed high school or beyond (83.0%). Cross Contamination Subscale scores were positively associated with Sanitation Subscale (p=.37, P< 0.01) and Severity Subscale scores (p=.32, P < 0.01). Women (10.29 ± 1.66; 28.66 ± 3.46) scored significantly higher than men (9.46 ± 1.96; 27.37±3.76) on the Sanitation Subscales (P < 0.05) and perceived threat (P < 0.05), respectively.
Significance: Findings contribute to the understanding of tailgaters’ food-handling behaviors and could help food safety professionals develop effective education programs.