Purpose: The objective of this study is to determine foodservice employees and managers’ food safety knowledge for fresh and fresh-cut produce.
Methods: A total of 16 grocery stores and 16 restaurants were recruited in Columbus, Ohio and Houston, Texas. Thirty-three managers and 77 employees (44% female and 56% male) participated in this study. Both employees and managers were given a food safety survey to measure knowledge in relation to cross contamination, personal hygiene, time and temperature control, foodborne illnesses, implementation of SOPs, and food preparation and storage. Descriptive statistics and independent t-test were used for data analysis.
Results: The majority of establishment (76%) had standard operating procedures for handling of fresh cut leafy produce. In terms of types of fresh leafy greens, 61% of respondents used head and precut, and prepackaged in their establishment. The level of food safety knowledge was found to vary depending on the working position (manager vs. employee), indicating that managers (M = 7.27, SD = 1.26) showed higher knowledge level than employees (M = 6.72, SD = 1.48); t(108) = 1.90, P = .06. With regards to temperature, foodborne illness and hand washing, the rates of incorrect answers were greater than of correct answers.
Significance: These findings will be used to develop a behavior-based food safety training program to ensure that proper food handling practices for fresh and fresh-cut produce. Behavior-based training may have a positive effect on reducing the number of foodborne illness outbreaks especially in regards to fresh and fresh-cut leafy greens.