Food Protection Trends - July/August 2022 - 296

TABLE 4. Knowledge of time needed before perishable foods purchased from local
farmers' markets must be refrigerated and for foodborne pathogenic bacteria
to cause illness
Frequency
>30 min
%
How long does it take you to refrigerate perishable goods purchased at your local farmers' market? (n = 260, P < 0.05, χ2
125
30-59 min
1-2 h
>2 h
= 68.12)
>30 min
77
38
20
= 99.97)
48.1
29.6
14.6
7.70
How long does it take for pathogenic bacteria to cause foodborne illness in foods held between 40°F and 140°F? (n = 262, P < 0.05,
χ2
30-59 min
1-2 h
>2 h
Unsure or don't know
at local FMs. Similarly, in Kentucky Khouryieh et al. (12)
found that 97% of the 230 surveyed participants from eight
FMs thought freshness and taste of food products were very
to extremely important factors for shopping at FMs, and
nearly 90% of participants listed supporting local farmers and
economic growth.
When asked whether microbial safety concerns affected
their purchase of perishable foods at FMs, >65.7% of the total
233 respondents to this item indicated " very to extremely
concerned " and only 7.3% thought these concerns were " not
at all important " (Table 3). Results clearly suggest a high level
of concern regarding microbial food safety among consumers
shopping at FMs. However, in contrast, in a survey of 50
FM traders in southeast Wales, Worsfold et al. (29) found
that 86% of consumers had few or no concerns about food
safety at FMs. U.S. consumers may be more aware of food
safety and the risks associated with food regardless of where
the foods are purchased and thus might be more concerned
about the microbial safety of locally processed food products.
Knowledge of food safety at FMs
In this survey instrument, two questions shown in Table 4
were included to evaluate the participant's knowledge of the
amount of time that foods from FMs can be unrefrigerated and
that foodborne pathogens require to grow in the temperature
" danger zone. " This danger zone is 40 to 140°F (4.4 to 60°C),
which favors survival and rapid growth of foodborne pathogenic
bacteria (22). According to U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Food Safety and Inspection Service guidelines (22),
consumers should not leave food out of refrigeration for >2 h.
296 Food Protection Trends July/August
47
54
43
18
100
17.9
20.6
16.4
6.9
38.2
In the present survey, 38.2% of the respondents did not know
the answer to the question related to the temperature danger
zone, and 55% believed that pathogenic bacteria can cause
foodborne illness in <2 h (P < 0.05, χ2
selected the correct answer of " >2 h " (P < 0.05, χ2
= 99.97); only 6.9%
= 68.12).
Among the 18 participants who answered correctly, 8 (44.4%)
had obtained a bachelor's degree and 7 (38.9%) had obtained
a graduate degree (Table 7), a significantly higher number (P <
0.05, χ2
= 8.22) than the number of participants who answered
correctly but did not have a college degree, suggesting that consumers
with a higher level of education are more likely to hear
about the temperature danger zone in microbiology or food
safety-related college courses. However, >92% of the participants
refrigerated perishable foods from FMs within 2 h after
purchase; 48.1 and 29.6% of them refrigerated foods within
30 min or between 30 and 59 min, respectively (P < 0.05, χ2
=
68.12). These results are similar to those from a previous study
by Khouryieh et al. (12), who also reported that although only
7.3% of the respondents knew the correct answer of " >2 h, "
>96% of the respondents refrigerated perishable goods within
2 h from the time of purchase. These results might be due to
the fact that most of the survey participants lived near the FMs
where they shopped.
Consumer practices regarding purchase of perishable
foods from FMs
Table 5 is a list of the self-reported practices that survey
participants used when handling perishable foods purchased
from local FMs. All the practices are related to food safety,
including cold storage, temperature checks, washing

Food Protection Trends - July/August 2022

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