Purpose: The objective of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention utilizing positive deviance to increase consumer safe handling behavior.
Methods: A pilot group of consumers participated in three 1-hour focus group sessions, completed pre/post surveys, and performed two food safety take-home tasks. The survey assessed knowledge, attitude and personal hygiene before and after the intervention. The take-home tasks addressed their behavior and attitudes toward following food safety recommendations regarding temperature control and cross contamination.
Results: Pre/post survey results indicated that consumer’s food safety knowledge and awareness increased after the intervention. The first take-home task was to measure the temperature of different spots of their home refrigerators using a refrigerator thermometer, and measure the temperature of home cooked items using a cooking thermometer. Prior to using the cooking thermometer participants stated “I don't think I need it.” After completing the take-home task, consumers reported “it is fun to see what temperature my food is now” and “I will definitely use it in the future.” The second take-home task was to use separate cutting boards for meat and produce. Participants found different ways to separate the cutting boards; instead of separating by meat vs. produce, some participants preferred to separate by ‘prepared to cook’ vs. ‘ready to eat.’
Significance: Based on the qualitative data, this positive deviance intervention increased consumer’s knowledge and safe handing behavior. Plans are to expand this approach to a larger audience of high risk individuals.