Restaurant industry preparedness against intentional food contamination: A data-driven strategy for food defense education

Background: Intentional food contamination by terrorists or disgruntled local individuals is a potential hazard, particularly post 9/11. Our focus groups of restaurant owners/managers showed little awareness of such potential attacks, and even less use of food defense practices to preempt such events. While food safety practices and training (to prevent accidental contamination) are pervasive, food defense practices (to prevent intentional contamination) are widely deficient.

Using focus groups and cognitive interviewing under a CDC-funded project, we developed a survey to assess restaurant preparedness to preempt malicious or terrorist contamination of food, and fielded it to a 50% random sample of South Carolina restaurants in summer 2007. Under a FDA-assisted project, these data are being analyzed to develop a targeted food defense strategy for South Carolina for maximum impact.

Objective: The objective is to identify: a) deficient practices among restaurants (to accordingly target messages), b)restaurant types/locations with most awareness/practice deficiencies, c) acceptable information sources, and d) acceptable facilitation services.

Methods: Our mailed survey to a random sample of 6153 restaurants (50% of all restaurants) yielded a 15% response rate, for a total of 926 surveys. A drawing for prizes (USC Gamecock memorabilia) was used to enhance survey participation. We perform cluster analyses of data to identify practices that are already widely prevalent, practices that are deficient, and the dominant restaurant characteristics among clusters that are least prepared. Additional analyses are also used. The final food defense education strategy will be finalized by March 2009, to enable development of DVDs and brochures for dissemination. Results of analysis and educational materials will be presented. Such data-driven targeting of messages and recipients is likely to yield maximum impact in raising the restaurant industry's preparedness level by: a) capturing restaurant owners' attention due to selection of deficient practices for the educational material, b) reaching restaurant types that are most vulnerable due to least likelihood of having key food defense practices in place, c) reaching the target audience due to acceptability of route, d) facilitate restaurants to implement practices by offering services that are of interest to restaurants.