Food Protection Trends - January 2009 - 16

ARTICLES Copyright© 2009, International Association for Food Protection 6200 Aurora Ave., Suite 200W, Des Moines, IA 50322-2864 Food Protection Trends, Vol. 29, No. 1, Pages 16–20 A Content Analysis of Food Safety Measures on Television’s Food Network ERICA GOSS IRLBECK,1* CINDY AKERS1 and MINDY M. BRASHEARS2 1 Dept. of Agricultural Education and Communications, Box 42131, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409-2131, USA; 2Dept. of Animal and Food Sciences, Box 42141, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409-2141, USA SUMMARy INTRODUCTION The World Health Organization (WHO) (11) reports that the United States has an estimated 76 million cases of foodborne diseases, resulting in 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths, each year. Although foodborne illness outbreaks are commonly made public by the media, food safety experts believe that sporadic cases and small outbreaks in the home are far more common (3). Consumers probably think that most foodborne illnesses are caused from foods prepared outside the home, but many food safety-related illnesses are preventable through use of common food safety practices in the home (7). WHO states that educating consumers and training food handlers about methods of safely preparing and storing food is one of the most critical means of preventing foodborne illnesses (11). The food handling mistakes consumers commonly make at home are serving undercooked or raw food, cooking or heating food inadequately, obtaining food from unsafe sources, cooling food inadequately, and having a colonized person handle implicated food or practice poor hygiene (3). The Partnership for Food Safety Education’s (PFSE) “FightBAC!” campaign focuses on four messages: clean (wash hands and surfaces often), separate (do not cross contaminate), cook (cook to proper temperature), and chill (refrigerate promptly) (8). The popularity of television cooking shows has grown exponentially in the past few years. At the same time, fewer Americans learn how to cook during childhood or in high school; therefore, many turn to television cooking shows for cooking lessons. This study aimed to determine how well television cooking shows, particularly those on the Food Network, demonstrate common consumer food safety measures. In May 2007, a total of 49 episodes from 30 Minute Meals, The Essence of Emeril, Everyday Italian, Paula’s Home Cooking, and Semi Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee were recorded, viewed, and coded for food safety measures by a panel of three trained experts. A content analysis revealed a total of 460 poor food handling incidents, compared to 118 positive food safety measures. Most commonly, the shows did not demonstrate washing fruits, vegetables, and herbs properly; a lack of hand washing was also frequently observed. The hosts occasionally demonstrated proper refrigeration, hand sanitation, and cross contamination prevention; additionally, the hosts sometimes discussed proper food handling. Although it is extremely difficult to demonstrate every food safety measure in a 30 minute television show, demonstration of basic food safety measures could potentially educate the consumer about proper food handling. A peer-reviewed article *Author for correspondence: 806.742.2816; Fax: 806.742.2880 Email: Erica.irlbeck@ttu.edu 16 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS | DECEMBER 2008

Food Protection Trends - January 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Protection Trends - January 2009