The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #49872

Brenda L. Elledge, MPH¹, Heather Basara, MS¹, Dan Boatright, PhD², Margaret L. Phillips, PhD¹, and Robert Lynch, PhD¹. (1) College of Public Health, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, 801 NE 13th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, 405-271-6477, brenda-elledge@ouhsc.edu, (2) Health Science Center, University of Oklahoma, School of Public Health, 801 NE 13th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73104

Food safety policies are created to protect the public from food borne illness. Policies are designed and implemented at the federal or state level and practiced at the facility level. This study sought to determine the differences between policy and its implementation through the analysis of retail establishment inspections for rural and urban counties in the state of Oklahoma. Within Oklahoma, three food safety compliance jurisdictions exist: Oklahoma City County, Tulsa County, and the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH), which represents the remaining 75 counties. Each of these jurisdictions separately adopts and administers policy and principles of the U.S. Food Code. To discern the differences between policy and practice, food safety inspections at the retail level between 1990-2000 were collected from 27 of 77 counties; 3 urban counties, 24 rural counties, and 2 enforcement jurisdictions were represented in data collection, with 75% of inspections representing the urban retail establishments and 25% representing the rural establishments. From data collected, comparative analysis between urban and rural counties revealed trends in violations and policy implementation. Inspector and inspection inconsistencies were common and violation reporting indicated cycling. Additionally, critical violations were recurrent in specific establishments. Policy review predicated upon analytical findings indicated differences in inspection process as well as administrative and policy oversights. Because the Oklahoma City County jurisdiction is comprised of urban retail establishments, and rural establishments largely represent the OSDH, it may be concluded that differences in the implementation of food safety policies may be attributed to urban versus rural practice.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand differences between rural and urban food safety practices.
• Evaluate risks to public health based on differences in policy implementation and practice.
• Identify trends in violations and policy implementation.

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.