Germ Warfare: Food Safety at

Home, Work, and PlaySeptember 5, 2013

Presenters:

Carol Byrd-Bredbenner, PhD, RD, FANDProfessor/Extension Specialist - Department of Nutritional Sciences,

Rutgers UniversityJacqueline Berning, PhD, RD, CSSD

Professor, Department of Biology - University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

Moderator:Barbara J. Ivens, MS, RD, FAND – Senior Nutrition Director, ConAgra

Foods

Approved for 1 CPE (Level 2) by the Commission on Dietetic Registration, credentialing agency for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

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Original recording of the September 5, 2013 webinar and PDF download of presentation available at:www.ConAgraFoodsScienceInstitute.com

This webinarReviewed new research-based insights when educating consumers on food safety practices at home, work and at play

Discussed the unique position of the registered dietitian and dietetic technician, registered, in educating the consumer about safe food practices

Identified communication strategies and tools to use to share food safety information

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Food Safety at Home, Work, and Play

FoodNet: Foodborne Illness Trends

CDC, 2011

Relative rates of confirmed foodborne infections compared with 1996-1998 rates

Who is responsible for making sure food is safe?

FMI, 2011

58%

35%

28%

10%

9%

28%

Clean Chill

Separate Cook

Gaps in Consumer Practices

How often consumers wash theirs hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds before preparing food

Kennedy, 2011; ADA/ConAgra Foods, 2011

Hands are a “major” vehicle

CLEAN

Floor

Work surface

Cutting board

Trash

Refrigerator door

Sink, tap handle

Dishcloth, sponge, towel

ListeriaE. coliStaphSalmonellaCampylobacterSite

Rossi, 2013; Redmond, 2009; Griffith, 2000

Heavily Contaminated Areas of the Kitchen

Use just for groceries

70%70%

51%51%

Gerba, 2010

Cleaned bags regularly

3%3%

Had coliform bacteria present

Use separate bags for meat and vegetables

25%25%

Reusable Grocery Bags

SEPARATE

Separate raw meat, poultry and seafood from ready-to-eat food products

76%76%Use different plates for handling raw and cooked meat

89%89%

ADA/ConAgra Foods, 2011; CDC, 2011

Origins of Foodborne

Disease

Separate

SEPARATE

Staph

Yersinia

Salmonella

E. coli

Listeria

Kennedy, 2005

Chill

CHILL

ADA/ConAgra Foods, 2011

Most Common Mistakes Made at Home Consumers Name as Causing Food Poisoning

Optimistic BiasOptimistic Bias “ “It won’t happen to me”It won’t happen to me”

IFIC, 2012

15%

42%27%

9% 7%

Consumers believe they have extremely low chances of getting foodborne illness

Why is it so hard to adopt safe food handling practices?

ADA/ConAgra Foods, 2011; Kuo, 2010; Byrd-Bredbenner, 2007; Daniels, 1998, 2001

Average Grade of Inspected Home Kitchens

64%64%

Failed Home Kitchen Inspection

67 to 99%67 to 99%

Self GradeGuided Grade

Grade Food Safety Experts Would Give Your Food Preparation, Service & Storage

Why is it so hard to adopt safe food handling practices? Illusion of ControlIllusion of Control

““We handle food carefully at my house”We handle food carefully at my house”2/3 believe they are exerting high control (Redmond, 2004)2/3 believe they are exerting high control (Redmond, 2004)

Build Knowledge & Propel it into Action

Put Responsibility in Perspective

Recognize Susceptibility

Clarify Potential Outcomes

Show How to have Better Control

Provide Cues to Action

Build Confidence

What Can We Do to Promote Safer Food Handling?

Unique Role of the RD in Food Safety Education

• Within our Scope of Practice– To translate and

communicate food safety to consumers and clientele

• Despite your expertise, food safety education is in all of our scope of practice

– Through Portfolio’s RD’s can develop and maintain expertise

• Healthy People 2020 and the 2010 Dietary Guidelines both emphasize food safety

• Opportunity for entrepreneurs

ADA Position Paper, 2009

Food Safety Opportunities For RD’s

• Immunocompromised:– Target group that might be missed is HIV

patients• Pregnancy:

– Women become more interested in food safety after having a baby

• in UK 4% of reportedly clean and disinfected baby bottles were contaminated with S.Aureus

• Food Demonstrations:– Add food safety tips when doing

cooking demonstrations• Food Outbreaks

– Another teachable moment when consumers are listening

– Tweet, blog, Facebook, email clients• Culinary RD’s

– Adding food safety tips and directions on recipes and in cookbooks

Redmond, et.al, 2009 Perspectives in Public Health

• Personalize food safety habits and messages– Consumers rarely get personalized

information about vulnerability to the outcomes of poor food handling practices.

– Leaves the individual to infer their own risk based on generalizations

• There is a gap between the consumers perceived and actual risk status.– What cues could you give your audience to

let them know their actual risk and what information could you give them to reduce that risk?

• Grocery list for players has directions on where to store the food and time to spoilage

• Future food safety interventions should include targeted messages on foodborne illness risks that are applicable to and resonate with:– Targeted audience– Including youth

Food Safety Opportunities:Reusable Grocery Bags

• Used for more than just grocery shopping– Farmers market, airplanes,

book bag, snack bag• Have been found to have

coliforms including E.Coli– Norovirus outbreak affecting 9

girls on a Oregon soccer team (13-14yo) was associated with touching a reusable grocery bag that was on the floor of a hotel bathroom when one of the players became ill

• Good reminder that grocery bags need to be washed– Visit www.homefoodsafety.org

for grocery tote safety

ConAgra Foods, 2012

Food Safety Behaviors• Three types of consumer

behavior based on food safety knowledge– Cavalier food handlers-greatest

microbial contamination, young males, urban

– Careful food handlers –know more about safe temperatures still had cross contamination and microbial contamination

– Conscientious-most knowledgeable, least likely to have microbial contamination

Kennedy et. al, British Food Journal, 2005

• Don’t wait until the client asks you for more information about food safety

• Choose areas of food safety that will change knowledge and behavior

• Practice what you preach• Focus on groups that may

have the least amount of knowledge about food safety

Food Safety OpportunitiesCONCESSION STANDS

•Hazard mixing animals and concession stands

– E. coli O157 infections at an agricultural fair

– Dog Fair with lots of doggy bags but no hand sanitizer

•Major violations at Concession Stands

– Temperature– Cross contamination– Hygiene– Equipment

• No hot water, refrigerators, holding equipment

– Mass production of a large amount of food in a short time

SPORTS•Most NFL/MLB fields are not equipped with institutional food service equipment

– The personnel responsible for serving food to the teams are not professionals and they generally do not have food safety training

•Water bottles/coolers– Empty the unused fluids in

the bottle at the end of the day

– Wash both the bottles and coolers

•Opening Day of Olympic Games Includes Olives With Botulism

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics www.HomeFoodSafety.org Centers for Disease Control http://cdc.gov/foodsafety Government Food Safety information gateway www.FoodSafety.gov International Food Information Council www.foodinsight.org Partnership for Food Safety Education, Fight Bac! http://fightbac.org

Webinar Cited Resources: Food Safety in Home Kitchens: A Synthesis of the Literature Carol Byrd-Bredbenner, Jacqueline Berning, Jennifer Martin-Biggers, Virginia Quick. Int. J.

Environ. Res. Public Health 2013, 10, 4060-4085. www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph (open access)

Food Safety for Active People and Families http://www.conagrafoodsscienceinstitute.com/webinars/germ-warfare-webinar.htm

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