Key Points of Control and Management for Microbial Food Safety: Information for Growers, Packers, and Handlers of Fresh-Consumed Horticultural Products.

Objective: To assess quantity and quality of nutrition and food safety information in science textbooks prescribed by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), India for grades I through X. Design: Content analysis. Methods: A coding scheme was developed for quantitative and qualitative analyses. Two investigators independently coded the data and inter-coder reliability was assessed using Cohen’s Kappa. The inferences were then reviewed by an expert group. Results: There was high agreement (Kappa = 0.89) between coders. Nutrition topics got > 10% pages in textbooks of grades I to VII, while they were omitted in subsequent grades. Food safety got a mere 1% of page allocation only in grades I to III books. Over 25% of biology illustrations related to nutrition in grades I, II and IV but not in others. Nutrition topics in textbooks beyond grade IV were repetitive and inconsistent. Some illustrations depicted uncommon foods and had urban bias. Conclusions: Nutrition and food safety content in science textbooks is low. Important topics such as nutritional needs during adolescence, obesity, unhealthy foods and food labelling are not covered. These findings provide direction for strengthening textbook content to promote nutrition education in schools.

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Food Safety Knowledge Retention Study

Journal of Food Protection ◽

10.4315/0362-028x-72.2.431 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 72 (2) ◽

pp. 431-435 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

NYALL HISLOP ◽

KEARA SHAW

Keyword(s):

Food Safety ◽

Service Industry ◽

Safety Information ◽

Food Service ◽

Knowledge Retention ◽

Foodborne Illness ◽

Valuable Insight ◽

Food Handlers ◽

Safety Certification ◽

Safety Knowledge

Foodborne illness in Canada is an ongoing burden for public health and the economy. Many foodborne illnesses result from improper food handling practices. If food handlers had a greater knowledge of what causes foodborne illness, perhaps these illnesses would have less of an impact on society. This study gave researchers the opportunity to examine the current food safety knowledge of food handlers by using a standardized questionnaire. Questionnaires were distributed by environmental health officers to food handlers working in the food service industry during on-site inspections, and responses were used to evaluate immediate knowledge of key food safety issues. Both certified and noncertified food handlers were evaluated. Information also was collected on the number of years since food safety certification was achieved and the number of years experience noncertified food handlers had in the food service industry. Results indicated that certified food handlers had a greater knowledge of food safety information than did noncertified food handlers. The highest failure rates were observed among noncertified food handlers with more than 10 years of experience and less than 1 year of experience. The results support the need for mandatory food safety certification for workers in the food service industry and for recertification at least every 10 years. Although the study was not sufficiently rigorous to evaluate existing food safety courses, data collected provided valuable insight into what issues should be emphasized in existing food safety courses and which should be targeted by future food safety initiatives.

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Recipes for Determining Doneness in Poultry Do Not Provide Appropriate Information Based on US Government Guidelines

Foods ◽

10.3390/foods7080126 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 (8) ◽

pp. 126 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Edgar Chambers ◽

Sandria Godwin ◽

Taylor Terry

Keyword(s):

Food Safety ◽

Safety Information ◽

The United States ◽

Cooking Time ◽

United States Department ◽

Department Of Agriculture ◽

Us Government ◽

Specific Temperature ◽

Handling Practices ◽

Food Handling Practices

Research has shown that consumers use unsafe food handling practices when preparing poultry, which can increase the risk of foodborne illness such as salmonellosis or campylobacteriosis. Recipes from cookbooks, magazines, and the internet commonly are used as sources for consumers to prepare food in homes and the expectation is that food will be safe when prepared. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), using a thermometer properly is the only way to accurately check for doneness of poultry. The objective of this study was to assess poultry recipes, including recipes for whole birds and poultry parts, to determine if food safety information concerning thermometer use was included within the recipe. Poultry recipes (n = 474) were collected from 217 cookbooks, 28 magazines, 59 websites, and seven blogs. Approximately 33.5% of the recipes contained a specific temperature for doneness, with 73% of those cooked to ≥165 °F/74 °C, as recommended by USDA. Ninety-four percent of recipes used cooking time and about half of the recipes used visual measurements, such as color or juices running clear, to determine doneness. This study showed that most recipes do not contain appropriate information to assure safe cooking of poultry by consumers. Modifying recipes by adding food safety information, such as thermometer use and proper temperatures, could increase the use of proper food preparation behaviors by consumers.

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Bacteriophages and Their Role in Food Safety

International Journal of Microbiology ◽

10.1155/2012/863945 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 2012 ◽

pp. 1-13 ◽

Cited By ~ 97

Author(s):

Sanna M. Sillankorva ◽

Hugo Oliveira ◽

Joana Azeredo

Keyword(s):

Food Safety ◽

Foodborne Pathogens ◽

Food Industry ◽

Farm Animals ◽

General Introduction ◽

Natural Antimicrobial ◽

Animal Products ◽

Bacterial Diseases ◽

Food Contact Surfaces ◽

Horticultural Products

The interest for natural antimicrobial compounds has increased due to alterations in consumer positions towards the use of chemical preservatives in foodstuff and food processing surfaces. Bacteriophages fit in the class of natural antimicrobial and their effectiveness in controlling bacterial pathogens in agro-food industry has led to the development of different phage products already approved by USFDA and USDA. The majority of these products are to be used in farm animals or animal products such as carcasses, meats and also in agricultural and horticultural products. Treatment with specific phages in the food industry can prevent the decay of products and the spread of bacterial diseases and ultimately promote safe environments in animal and plant food production, processing, and handling. This is an overview of recent work carried out with phages as tools to promote food safety, starting with a general introduction describing the prevalence of foodborne pathogens and bacteriophages and a more detailed discussion on the use of phage therapy to prevent and treat experimentally induced infections of animals against the most common foodborne pathogens, the use of phages as biocontrol agents in foods, and also their use as biosanitizers of food contact surfaces.

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