Browsing by Author "Chapman, Benjamin"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Assessment of consumers' knowledge, attitudes, awareness, and beliefs of food handling and beef safety handling behaviors
    Yang, Lily L. (Virginia Tech, 2018-08-03)
    Consumers desire tender, juicy, and flavorful cuts of beef. Mechanical tenderization (MT) and enhancement methods applied to lower valued beef cuts can improve tenderness, flavor or juiciness, increasing desirability for the consumer. However, these processes can introduce pathogens that may be present on the exterior of the meat into the sterile interior. This process renders an ‘intact’ product ‘non-intact’ and requires altered cooking methods to ensure safety. The primary pathogens of concern for beef products are Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC). STEC are associated with approximately 265,000 illnesses and 3,600 hospitalizations annually. Since 2006, there have been 6 STEC outbreaks in the United States and 18 cases in Canada attributed to MT beef (MTB). The pathogen has also been implicated in 136 non-intact beef-related recalls. Due to the potential food safety hazards associated with MTB, mandatory labeling of these products was mandated in 2015 to inform consumers on how to safely handle the product. While this is a good step to inform consumers, it is unclear how familiar they are with the terms associated with these processes. Consumer’s knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, awareness, and behaviors related to MTBs is quite limited. This study uses an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design, to assess consumer knowledge of MTB. Qualitative focus groups conducted throughout urban and rural North Carolina and Virginia found that although participants purchased MTBs, they were unaware of the process, did not prepare MTBs properly, wanted to know more about the process, and wanted applicable risk messages. A nationwide survey developed from the focus group findings found that demographic differences were associated with knowledge of; and how participants interact with MTBs. How demographics influence consumer’s beef safety knowledge, practices, and risky behaviors was further explored. Demographic characteristics were highly correlated with consumers’ behaviors surrounding beef storage, refrigerator temperature knowledge, defrosting behaviors, meat washing, and meat preparation behaviors. Collectively, the mixed methods research design provided insight into specific demographic characteristics related to consumer attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors surrounding beef safety. This data will help inform the development of well-crafted, culturally, and socially relevant risk messaging that may promote safe handling behaviors.
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    Assessment of Educational Needs and Current Practices of Front-line Grocery Employees in the Deli and Bakery
    Robertson, Lynn Ann (Virginia Tech, 2010-06-11)
    Grocery store associates in the deli-bakery departments serve and prepare an increasing amount of ready-to-eat foods. This increases the need for a detailed, effective food safety training program in retail grocery establishments to prevent food borne illness. This research examines food safety knowledge, training preferences, needs, and current practices of grocery stores deli-bakery employees in Southwest and Southern Virginia. This research had two phases. Phase I: employees completed a thirty-four question needs assessment survey concerning background, food safety training needs, preferences and knowledge. Phase 2: 15 employees (from phase 1 locations) food behaviors were observed for approximately six hours each (89.05 hours total). Observational data collection focused on glove use, cross-contamination, and hand washing. The results showed that most grocery food handlers desired hands-on, interactive and one-on-one training that occurs frequently, but is short: less than two hours in length. Overall, most grocery food handlers had general safe food handling knowledge; however, the observational behavior data indicates behaviors do not reflect their knowledge. Greater than 95% understanding was found on the subjects of hand washing and glove use; however, these items were observed practiced incorrectly the most with bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods and lack of hand washing prior to glove use. The creation of short, hands-on or interactive trainings for retail grocery food handlers that focuses on changing food handling and preparation behaviors may be more effective than current training.
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    Assessment of Farmers Market Practices and Characteristics to Inform the Development of Tailored Educational Materials
    Duong, Minh Dao (Virginia Tech, 2021-09-21)
    Farmers markets (FM) have become increasingly popular almost tripling over the past two decades due to the rising interest in local and/or organic foods. Within this same time period, notable farmers market foodborne illness outbreaks; such as E. coli O157:H7 and strawberries and Salmonella and peas; have occurred, and emphasize the importance of food safety practices at farmers markets. Some farmers may be encouraged to follow Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) to limit the contamination of fresh produce; however, GAPs programs are complex and also very driven by wholesale buyers. Furthermore, many FM growers are unfamiliar with GAPs or do not believe it is applicable to them. The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was passed in 2011, and shifted the food safety paradigm from a reactive to proactive approach introducing seven different rules including the Preventive Controls for Human Foods (PCHFR) and the Produce Safety Rule (PSR). Each FSMA rule does contain exemptions for smaller-scale operations (e.g., farms, facilities) that allows them to be excluded from the rule, or excluded from certain aspects of the rule. Generally, most FM vendors may satisfy exemptions from the FSMA regulations (e.g., be exempt from the FSMA Produce Safety Rule because of commodities); however, to our knowledge, no studies have assessed the regulatory compliance requirements of FM vendors to the FSMA regulations. This dissertation explored the regulatory requirements of FM vendors, and the accessibility of FSMA materials for these audiences. Additionally, due to the sudden and unprecedented global COVID-19 pandemic, an objective was added that explored how COVID-19 influenced behavior changes among this audience. Interviews were conducted and found that all vendors (100%) were exempt from the PCHFR and that most vendors (67%) were exempt from the PSR, some were qualified exempt (28%), and a few (5%) were covered. This study also found that farmers market vendors received information mainly from University Cooperative Extension sources. The COVID-19 pandemic greatly impacted hygiene and health practices at FMs. Market personnel (managers and vendors) implemented many different hygiene and health practices at their markets. The major source of COVID-19 food safety information for market personnel was local and federal government; as well as University Cooperative Extension. Accessibility analyses showed that many FM or COVID-19 resources were not accessible due to populations that rely on produce safety resources generated by Cooperative Extension due to (i) navigation or web accessibility errors, (ii) high literacy level requirements, and (iii) lack of keep (i.e., resources were not up-to-date, or continuously managed or monitored). These findings will inform the development of FM targeted resources, that are also, accessible to a more diverse and inclusive audience. One example is a produce safety resource on the updated agricultural water requirements that is developed to an 8th grade reading level, with no broken links or additional navigations errors, and if a PDF version is available, proper headers and titles.
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    Food Safety for School and Community Gardens: A Handbook for Beginning and Veteran Garden Organizers
    Boyer, Renee R.; Chapman, Benjamin (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2018-08-31)
    Outlines recommended agricultural practices for food safety in school and community gardens. Topics include food safety, site selection, pesticides and fertilizers, handwashing, water and irrigation, composting, garden design and animals, sanitation, and tools.
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    Guide to Identifying Hazards in Packinghouse Environments
    Strawn, Laura K.; Chapman, Benjamin; Gutierrez-Rodriguez, Eduardo (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2017-10-02)
    Provides information for growers and packers that can help them identify potential microbial, chemical and physical hazards in packinghouses.
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    Identification of food safety risks at Virginia farmers' markets and development of a food safety plan to help farmers market managers
    Pollard, Stephanie Kay (Virginia Tech, 2015-11-24)
    The growing popularity of farmers' markets coupled with a high percentage of produce-related foodborne outbreaks highlights the need for an emphasis on food safety within these markets to protect farmers, patrons and local economies. The number of farmers' markets registered in the United States has almost tripled in the last 15 years. Fresh produce constitutes the majority of food sold at farmers'markets. Between 1998 and 2008, raw produce accounted for almost half of the 4,589 foodborne illness outbreaks linked to a specific commodity. This research was conducted to identify practices at farmers' markets which may contribute to an increased risk of contamination, assess the microbial quality of produce sold at farmers' markets, as well as to develop a food safety management plan template for market managers to utilize to build their own food safety plan. Using an observational data collection method, risky food safety practices were identified at Southwest Virginia farmers' markets. While market managers and vendors in three of the five markets observed had formal food safety training, numerous risky food safety behaviors were still observed including temperature abuse, cross contamination opportunities, and poor personal hygiene and sanitation. Additionally, the microbial quality of produce from Southwest Virginia farmers' markets was compared to produce sold at retail using culture based microbiological plating and molecular methods. Total aerobic bacteria and coliforms were enumerated, and the presence of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus and generic E. coli were determined. A significantly greater quantity of total aerobic bacteria was isolated from farmers' market leafy greens, onions and tomatoes when compared to a retail grocery store (P=0.0011, P=0.0395, and P<0.0001, respectively). Additionally, one or more target pathogen was isolated from 28 farmers' market samples and 16 retail grocery store samples. The observed risky food safety behaviors along with the bacterial data collected emphasize the need for a pathogen reduction focus on fresh produce not only at farmers' markets, but also with growers and other retail outlets. To help promote proper food safety practices at farmers' markets, a farmers' market food safety management plan (FSMP) template was developed to address the top five risk factors contributing to foodborne illness as identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The FSMP was evaluated for practicality and feasibility through interviews with market mangers in North Carolina and Virginia. Most market managers (66.7%) agreed that the FSMP was practical for their market while only 33.3% agreed that they could implement the plan immediately. Revisions suggested to the FSMP will be made and it will be made available in Virginia and North Carolina in spring 2016.