Evaluation of Keep Food Safe Food-Handler Training of School Food Service Personnel

Abstract

LEARNING OUTCOME: To describe the impact of safe food handling instruction on attitudes and knowledge of school food service personnelA questionnaire was used to determine the impact of safe food handling instruction on attitudes and knowledge of school food service participants attending 5 Delaware Cooperative Extension Keep Food Safe Workshops during 1993-94. Before and after instruction (video, discussion, hands-on activities), 111 school food service personnel completed a questionnaire. Learner objectives and questionnaire evaluating attitudes and knowledge covered the most frequently contributing factors to outbreaks of foodborne illness: cross contamination, cooling/reheating, personal hygiene, temperature control and general food safety knowledge. Demographic and pre/post questionnaire data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, paired t-tests, and multiple linear regression. Demographics of participants were: 96% female; mean age 43 years; 27% completed high school or some college; experience included an average of 7 years at their current facility; 9 years at other facilities - most frequently commercial restaurants (37%) and churches (23%). On the job training by supervisors (60%), coworkers (59%) and classes (36%) were most frequenty identified as the kinds of safe food handling training they had received. On the job classes predicted a significantly higher pre-questionnaire score in cross-contamination while college course was significant for temperature control; experience in commercial restaurants was significant for cooling/reheating. Paired t-tests of pre/post-questionnaires revealed significant differences for 43% of the attitude questions (P< 0.01, < 0.001) and 60% of the knowledge questions (P< 0.05, < 0.01, < 0.001). 80% listed at least one specific food handling practice they would change as a result of the training. Of these changes, 25% related to personal hygiene and 11% involved temperature control. Results demonstrate learning gains for school food service personnel at these workshops.