Title: Impact on Illness: Recent Learning on Safe Food Handling

Author: Shelley Feist

Section/SPIG: Food and Nutrition

Issue Date:

Shelley Feist , Executive Director

Partnership for Food Safety Education

www.fightbac.org

(202) 220-0651

 

The Partnership for Food Safety Education (Partnership or PFSE) 10 years ago created the Fight BAC!® campaign and tested with consumers the four key messages of Clean, Separate, Cook and Chill to raise awareness of what they could do when handling food to reduce the risk of foodborne illness.

 

At a recent Partnership panel before the Institute of  Food Technologists’ annual conference in Chicago, experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service talked about what their agency’s research tells us about consumer perception of risk, what behaviors might be contributing to some cases of illness, and how education programming might be improved to have a greater impact on modifying consumer food handling behavior.

 

Generally, awareness of the “core four” practice areas is high, but while consumers may have seen or heard that they should follow certain practices, when asked if they “always do” these things, gaps are often reported.  Even when consumers indicate that they know a practice is recommended for reducing risk of illness, they may report that they do not consistently follow that practice.

 

For example, on one important practice, “Wash hands with warm water and soap after handling raw meat, poultry, seafood or eggs,” while 85 percent report they have seen or heard this food safety message, just 65 percent report that they “always do” this.

 

Alan Levy, representing the FDA on the panel, said that consumers practice safe food handling behaviors when they think about it.  And they think about it when they perceive a risk.

 

According to Janice Adams-King of USDA, at-risk patients and parent/caregivers show considerable willingness to modify their food handling behaviors to better protect themselves or their loved ones from contracting a foodborne illness.  These groups have a higher perception of their risk and understand that for them or for the person in their care a foodborne illness could lead to a more serious illness or even death. The USDA and FDA have developed outreach materials specific to at-risk populations including pregnant women and new mothers, organ transplant patients, the older adults and people with diabetes.

 

Levy presented several characteristics associated with an increase in personal behavior risk perception among the general population:

  • Women;
  • “Middle” age (26-60);
  • Less education ;
  • No food preparation experience;
  • Recent illness experience;
  • More likely to look for food safety information;
  • Less knowledge about how to kill foodborne pathogens.

Keeping in mind these characteristics of persons who have a higher perception of risk, and perhaps as a consequence more openness to modifying behavior, several challenges remain in designing effective education programming including that to be effective education programs must challenge complacency.

 

Olga Henao of the CDC adds that food safety education messages should focus in some cases on disease-specific risk factors.  These risk factors vary by pathogen.  In her comments on the panel, Henao highlighted common pathogens that lead to illness, and, based on FoodNet data, the risk factors that correspond to these pathogens:  Campylobacter; E. coli O157:H7; Listeria monocytogenes; and Salmonella.  These data aid the Partnership in developing practice-specific information, which, according to Levy, is likely to be more effective in changing behavior than is general information.

 

Among the general public, some specific food handling behaviors could be emphasized to raise awareness.  A review and analysis of existing Partnership and government research on consumer safe food handling, conducted for the Partnership by RTI International, identifies several areas where particular effort should be made to improve consumer awareness and practice, including:

  • handling of fresh produce;
  • consistent use of a food thermometer;
  • safely defrosting raw meat and poultry;
  • using a refrigerator thermometer/knowing the temperature of refrigerator ;
  • safely storing refrigerated food.

 

A PDF of the Partnership for Food Safety Education’s panel presentation at the Institute of Food Technologists’ annual conference is available for download from the Partnership home page at www.fightbac.org.

 

New Program Aims at Improving Safe Food Handling Practices

A new joint campaign of the USDA and PFSE, Be Food Safe, takes the approach of moving from the general of Clean, Separate, Cook and Chill, to more practice-specific messaging with accompanying icons and photography:

 

Clean — Wash hands, utensils, and cutting boards before and after contact with raw meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs.

Separate — Keep raw meat and poultry apart from foods that won’t be cooked.

Cook — Use a food thermometer - you can’t tell food is cooked safely by how it looks.

Chill — Chill leftovers and takeout foods within two hours and keep the fridge at 40 °F or below.

 

Kicked off in September, the Partnership is engaging the nation’s retailers and manufacturers to bring the Be Food Safe campaign direct to consumers where they shop for food.  More information on this retail creative platform is available at www.befoodsafe.org.

 

USDA has created a significant body of media and outreach tools, including photography, radio and television PSAs for use by educators.  These materials can be accessed at www.befoodsafe.gov.