Needs Assessment of Educational Intervention for Artisan Cheesemakers in the United States

Introduction: Over the past four decades there has been tremendous growth (~2,000%) in the number of artisan cheese facilities in the United States. Increased consumption of artisan cheese and the new requirements of FSMA rules have necessitated the need to look into the food safety hazards associated with artisan cheese. In August, 2015, members of an artisan dairy forum achieved consensus that, due to time and money constraints of the cheese makers, an online self-paced training intervention would be a good medium to educate artisans on basics of food safety.

Purpose: This study was conducted to determine the food safety training needs of small artisan cheesemakers in the US and to develop an intervention. This was based on the front end analysis for the instructional design to help them produce safe and wholesome cheese for their consumers.

Methods: A survey was sent to 85 individuals pulled from the national artisan dairy forum with a response rate of 29.4% (n=25). Qualitative data were, also, collected through phone, email, and face-to-face interviews.

Results: There are competency gaps in various food safety practices related to artisan cheese facility. According to the respondents of the survey the likelihood of having a food safety plan for large and medium sized operations are high (n=14 and n=10, respectively); whereas, small and very small operations are very unlikely (n=12). The survey also suggested that the artisan cheese makers have access to the internet (n=21) and use computer (n=21) and smartphone (n=20 ) for day-to-day use. Of the respondents, 11.76% (n=2) reported that no food safety training opportunities are offered to cheese makers in their regions.

Significance: The results indicated that the artisan community may lack basic food safety knowledge such as GMPs, pertinent laws and regulation, and they need basic food safety training.