Food Protection Trends - January/February 2018 - 8

PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLE
Food Protection Trends, Vol 38, No. 1, p. 8-17
Copyright© 2018, International Association for Food Protection
6200 Aurora Ave., Suite 200W, Des Moines, IA 50322-2864

Mary Yavelak,1* Sarah Cope,1 Jill Hochstein2
and Benjamin Chapman1
Dept. of Agricultural and Human Sciences, North Carolina State
University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA

Assessing the Usage of Food Thermometers
at American University Football Tailgates
ABSTRACT
Temporary food production settings such as festivals,
community gatherings and tailgates often have little infrastructure for safe food handling practices. Many outdoor
temporary events have been linked to foodborne illness
outbreaks, but little is known about safe food handling
practices specifically in tailgate settings. This research
was designed to evaluate current food thermometer usage
at university football tailgates, using a mixed-methods approach of observation and interview. Additional aims were
to engage with participants around safe food handling and
distribute food safety materials and evaluate this approach
as an intervention. Trained data collectors from five U.S.
universities collected baseline thermometer usage data,
engaged participants with safe food handling messages,
and returned to collect thermometer usage data. Just
33% of tailgaters reported using a food thermometer (n =
523). Follow-up observations revealed 56% of participants
exhibited a change in behavior following the intervention (n
= 39). The three most reported foods likely to be assessed
with a thermometer were beef, pork, and chicken. Results
*Author for correspondence: Phone: +1 704.860.4894; E-mail: mkyavela@ncsu.edu

Food Protection Trends January/February

provide insight on the need for food safety training and
specific education for tailgaters. Targeting education
efforts to this group can aid in reducing the risk of foodborne illness at temporary food settings.

INTRODUCTION
Approximately 48 million cases of foodborne illness
occur in the United States every year, leading to problems
such as financial loss, hospitalization, long-term health
issues, and death (5). According to outbreak data, produce
accounts for 46% of foodborne illness, while meat and
poultry products account for 22% (15). The U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) attributes
foodborne illness to five contributing factors, one of which
is improper cooking. In food service settings, the United
States Food and Drug Association (FDA)'s Model Food
Code includes an end-point internal cooking temperature
for meat and poultry products that will deliver a 6.5 to
7-log lethality of the most virulent pathogen likely in that
product (3, 17). These regulatory temperature requirements
are commonly used as recommendations for safe endpoint

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