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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Michéle Samarya-Timm, MA, REHS, Montclair State University, 20 Orchard Street, Franklin Park, NJ 08823-1226, 732-297-0750, samaryatim@aol.com
Despite educational efforts, foodborne illness remains prevalent throughout the United States. One reason for this is that food preparers and handlers at each stage of the food chain lack the knowledge of risks involved and the related safe food handling practices.
Education and training are key components in the process of ensuring that food handlers are proficient in and knowledgeable about food safety and sanitation principles.
As the necessity for participation in food education increases, so does the need to develop educational programs that are appropriate, cost effective and applicable to the specific food handling duties of the industry.
Educators in the 114 local health departments in New Jersey were surveyed for their opinions on content, methods and materials utilized during retail food safety instruction and the effectiveness of each in directing the food handler's attitudes and actions toward appropriate food safety practices. At this level, retail food safety education is often viewed just as an extension of a sanitarian's inspection duties, but many sanitarians have little or no formal training in educational methods, resources, and assessments. Health educators are rarely involved in this aspect of program development. In addition, time, materials and budgetary constraints of health departments often delimit program offerings. Thus, health departments may be providing only cursory education to those who are at the front line of ensuring the safety of our entire public food supply.
This presentation seeks to address these delimitations, and offer suggestions to improve local retail food safety education throughout the United States.
Learning Objectives: After attending this session, audience members will be able to
Keywords: Food Safety, Education
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.