Food Protection Trends - January 2009 - 21

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 21–30 Behavioral, Normative, and Control Beliefs Impacts on the Intention to Offer Food Safety Training to Employees KEVIN R. ROBERTS* and BETSY BARRETT Dept. of Hospitality Management and Dietetics, Kansas State University, 104 Justin Hall, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA SUMMARy INTRODUCTION Foodborne illnesses continue to be a major public health concern in the United States. The federal government has identified the reduction of foodborne illnesses by 2010 as a major health goal (16). However, each year approximately 76 million people fall ill to a foodborne illness; 325,000 individuals are hospitalized and 5,000 die after contracting a foodborne illness (25). Buzby, Frenzen, and Rasco (7) report that of all hospitalizations in the United States, foodborne disease accounts for one out of every 100 illnesses and one out of every 500 deaths. A large number of foodborne illnesses are traced to restaurant operations (15, 17, 28). Of all foodborne illnesses reported to FoodNet in 2005, 59% were associated with restaurants (8). In 1997, Collins (13) found that the most common risk factors leading to foodborne diseases and illnesses were improper holding times, cross contamination, and poor personal hygiene, all of which can be controlled by employees and managers within the foodservice operation. In 2000 and 2004, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducted studies to assess the most prevalent practices that were out of compliance with the Food Code (21, 22). The initial study Training is an important aspect of food safety programs in commercial restaurants and is integral in ensuring that safe food is served. The purposes of this research were to explore restaurant managers’ beliefs, attitudes, subjective norms, and perceptions of control with regard to providing employees the opportunity to attend food safety training and to determine how these characteristics differ between independent and chain restaurant managers as well as between managers with and without food safety certification. A telephone survey yielded a total of 237 responses. Results indicated that intention to offer food safety training was high. Restaurant managers had a positive attitude about food safety, placed importance on the beliefs of those around them, and felt in control about offering food safety training. Compared with managers without food safety certification, certified managers had more positive attitudes about offering food safety training and placed greater emphasis on subjective norms, but perceived less control. Certified managers had a higher intention to train employees than non-certified managers. When behavioral, normative, and control beliefs were compared between chain and independent restaurant managers, only behavioral and normative beliefs differed. Sanitarians can use the results of this study in training and inspections to help overcome potential barriers to managers’ allowing employees to attend training. A peer-reviewed article *Author for correspondence: 785.532.2399; Fax: 785.532.5522 Email: roberts@humec.ksu.edu JANUARY 2009 | FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS 21

Food Protection Trends - January 2009

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