Food Protection Trends - March/April 2020 - 87

TABLE 5. Results from the common sources of foodborne disease pathogens scale
Rank

Correct

Questions

Incorrect

n

%

n

%

1

Listeria bacteria are most likely associated with which food?
Answer: deli meats

30

12.8

204

87.2

2

Campylobacter bacteria are most likely associated with which food?
Answer: raw or undercooked poultry

32

13.7

202

86.3

3

Staph (Staphylococcus) bacteria that cause food poisoning are most likely associated
with which food?
Answer: food prepared by cooks with their bare hands and then left at room temperature

47

20.1

187

79.9

4

Botulism is a disease that is most likely associated with which food?
Answer: canned foods

75

32.1

159

67.9

5

Salmonella bacteria can cause food poisoning. How can a food be made safe if it has
Salmonella in it?
Answer: cook it thoroughly

80

34.2

154

65.8

6

Harmful E. coli bacteria are most likely associated with which food?
Answer: raw or undercooked beef

98

41.9

136

58.1

7

You may contaminate the next food you touch with Salmonella bacteria if you don't
wash your hands after touching what?
Answer: raw chicken

161

68.8

73

31.2

Regarding participants' perceived susceptibility to food
poisoning, only 80 (34.2%) participants strongly believed,
while almost half (n = 106; 45.3%) did not believe, that they
would get food poisoning in the current year. More than
half of the participants (58.5%) strongly believed that the
U.S. did not suffer from food poisoning each year. Moreover,
only 18.8% of the participants strongly believed that food
poisoning was a problem in the U.S.
For attitudes regarding food poisoning as a personal threat,
the majority of the participants did not view food poisoning
as a serious personal threat. Specifically, only 12 participants
(5.1%) stated that they strongly worried about getting food
poisoning, and 53 (22.6%) showed that they did not worry
at all about getting food poisoning.
In general, the results showed that the majority of them
always used safe practices (Table 7). For example, 173 participants (73.9%) always examined food packages to check the
integrity of the food. Over half of the participants checked
frozen food when purchasing it (n = 144; 61.5%) and
cleaned food preparation areas with soap and water after preparing foods (n = 147; 62.8%). In addition, almost half of the
participants (n = 111; 47.4%) stated that they would never
use a luncheon meat, pasta, or sauce item after the expiration
date. However, some participants showed relatively poor
food safety practices. For example, 17 participants (7.3%)
indicated that they always used raw eggs in salads, desserts,
or drinks. Also, 11 participants (4.7%) indicated that they always left cooked meat on the counter for more than 4 hours.

Previous foodborne illnesses
Table 8 compares participants' food safety knowledge,
attitudes, and practices between participants with and
without foodborne illness experiences. The results indicate
that participants who had experienced foodborne illnesses
had better food safety knowledge (10.64 ± 2.78; P < 0.05),
attitudes (3.70 ± 0.43; P < 0.05), and practices (3.25 ± 0.54;
P < 0.1) than those who had not.
Reliability of food safety information sources
The perceived reliability of sources of food safety
information was assessed using various categories: people,
print media, electronic media, and written materials
(Table 9). Over half of the participants (n = 127; 54.3%)
strongly trusted the food safety information from health
professionals, while 77 participants (32.9%) indicated
that the information from university scientists was highly
reliable. Most participants showed some degree of trust in
the print media. For example, almost half of the participants
thought that food safety information from Consumer Reports
(n = 105; 44.9%), science magazines (n = 102, 43.6%), and
food magazines (n = 101; 43.2%) were relatively reliable.
Regarding electronic media, about half of the participants
thought that the food safety information provided by radio
programs (n = 114; 48.7%), television talk shows (n = 106;
45.3%), and social media (n = 100; 42.7%) were neither
reliable nor unreliable. In addition, 94 (40.2%) and 92
(39.3%) participants believed in the reliability of the food
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