Reasons Why Restaurant Employees May Not Follow Food Safety Procedures

Main Category: Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 04 Aug 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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Inadequate training and resources, time constraints and the inconvenience of following procedures all stand in the way of restaurant employees' applying food safety practices in their workplace, according to researchers at Kansas State University.

In focus groups totaling 125 restaurant employees, those barriers were most often identified as reasons why three important food safety practices may not take place: hand washing, using thermometers and cleaning work surfaces. The responses were similar for workers with no formal food safety training as well as those who had participated in a formal ServSafe training program.

In the group that had received formal training, additional barriers included no incentive to implement the practices; managers not monitoring if employees cleaned work surfaces; inconvenient location of sinks; dry skin from hand washing; lack of working thermometers; and managers not monitoring the use of thermometers. Between the two groups of employees, 90 different barriers to implementing food safety practices were identified.

The researchers conclude: "Knowledge of perceived barriers among employees can assist food and nutrition professionals in facilitating employees in overcoming these barriers and ultimately improve compliance with food safety practices.

Additional research articles in the August Journal of the American Dietetic Association include:

- Data from a Validation Study of Reporting Accuracy over Multiple Recalls, and School Foodservice Production Records Provide Insight into the Origins of Intrusions (Reports of Uneaten Items) in Children's Dietary Recalls

- Comparison of Baseline Dietary Intake of Hispanic and Matched Non-Hispanic White Breast Cancer Survivors Enrolled in the Women's Healthy Eating And Living (WHEL) Study

The Journal of the American Dietetic Association is the official research publication of the American Dietetic Association and is the premier peer-reviewed journal in the field of nutrition and dietetics. Conclusions of research studies do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the American Dietetic Association, and ADA does not assume responsibility for opinions expressed by authors of Journal articles.

The American Dietetic Association is the world's largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. ADA is committed to improving the nation's health and advancing the profession of dietetics through research, education and advocacy.

To locate a registered dietitian in your area, visit the American Dietetic Association at http://www.eatright.org.

American Dietetic Association

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