Temporary public eating places: food safety knowledge and practices

Abstract

Food borne illness outbreaks are still a serious health problem in the US, even though the knowledge and training materials needed to prevent the outbreaks are readily available. It is important for those whose activities have an effect on the number of illness outbreaks to have as much knowledge about cause and prevention as possible. In addition, temporary food establishments seem to have an increased risk of illness outbreak. Therefore a survey was conducted to explore the food safety knowledge levels and attitudes of those who work in such establishments. The results show strengths in personal hygiene and contamination control, but also deficiency in the areas of cooling/reheating, and contamination control. Since this study is an update of a similar one done in Delaware in 1993, the results have been compared.