Food Safety Knowledge and Practices of Older Adult Participants of the Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program

The purpose of this study was to determine food safety knowledge and practices of older adult participants in the Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program (FSNEP) in Virginia. One hundred and sixty-five FSNEP participants were assigned to two possible intervention groups, group one received the food safety lesson from the Healthy Futures Series currently used in FSNEP, while group two received the food safety lesson plus an additional food safety video. FSNEP participants completed food safety knowledge and practices questionnaires at baseline and at the end of FSNEP program. Observations of some FSNEP participants were also made. Results of this study indicate the FSNEP program was effective in making positive changes in participants' food safety knowledge and practices. However, FSNEP participants have inadequate food safety practices in the areas of proper storage of leftovers and raw ground meat, maintenance of refrigerator temperatures and use of meat thermometers. These areas should be emphasized in future food safety lessons used in FSNEP. In addition, participants who received only the current food safety lesson used in FSNEP had higher gains in food safety knowledge and practices, than participants who received both the current lesson food safety lesson and the instructional food safety video. Also, no strong relationships between demographic variables and FSNEP participants' food safety knowledge and practices were found.