A major source of consumers’ exposure to Salmonella and Campylobacter is from poultry and shell eggs. These products are consumed frequently in the U.S. and worldwide thus the potential for exposure is great.  Recent surveys and other research suggests that many consumers do not follow recommended food safety practices; however, limited research has been conducted specifically related to consumer purchase, storage, handling, and preparation of raw poultry and shell eggs. This symposium presents findings from multiple USDA Agriculture Food and Research Initiative (AFRI) grants and other research on current food safety practices for raw poultry and shell eggs in the U.S. and other countries and identifies areas for improvement. This symposium will feature five sessions, and conclude with a panel discussion.

First, findings from a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults (n = 1,500) will be presented to describe how consumers purchase, store, handle, and prepare raw poultry and shell eggs. The survey over-sampled ground poultry product users to learn how consumers prepare this product, in particular, determining doneness. Next, the findings from this U.S. survey will be compared to practices in Argentina, Columbia, Spain, Italy, Estonia, Russia, India, Thailand, and Korea. Then, the results of an observational study related to behaviors for purchasing and storing raw poultry will be presented from 97 “shop-a-long” interviews.  Next, results of two observational studies will be presented to illustrate common mistakes made by U.S. and United Kingdom consumers when cooking raw poultry. Then, results of a study conducted to educate consumers on a common unsafe practice, washing raw poultry before cooking, will be presented.  The session will conclude with a panel discussion on translating research findings into action and how to motivate consumers to change unsafe practices for poultry and shell eggs.

Presentations