TABLE 1. Demographics of respondents and their operational information (N = 300) Characteristic Frequencyª Gender Female Male Ethnicity Hispanic or Latino Caucasian Asian African American Native American, Pacific Islander, and other Education High school/GED Less than high school Some college Associate degree Bachelor's degree Other Position Server Other Line cook Prep cook Executive chef Years of experience 5 years or less 6-15 years 16 years or more 119 57 55 34 31 3 128 71 47 27 25 224 59 12 39.7 19 18.3 11.3 10.3 1 42.7 23.7 15.7 9 8.3 74.7 19.7 4 ªResponses may not equal 300 because of nonresponse to an item. in the restaurant industry. Most respondents (76.7%) indicated they had received food safety training. In the survey, 55% of respondents indicated they had completed food safety certification, such as ServSafe or equivalent state certification. State of Texas regulations require food handlers to complete certified training in food safety and a certified manager to be on duty during the operating hours of a food establishment (49, 50). The state of Ohio mandates that all foodservice operations must have a designated food safety-certified Person in-Charge of each shift and a manager 64 Food Protection Trends January/February with supervisory responsibilities who completed the Ohio Manager Certification in food protection (35). Descriptive statistics of food safety culture constructs Table 2 presents the means, standard deviations, and reliability coefficients for the 51 items representing the six constructs of food safety culture: leadership; commitment; communication; environment, training, and resources; risk perception and awareness; and management style. The initial reliability analysis suggested the removal of two problematic 139 70 58 20 12 46.3 23.3 19.3 6.7 4 159 139 Percentage 53 46.3 Restaurant ownership and theme Independent Chinese Independent Mexican Chain Chinese Chain Mexican Type of service Casual dining Quick service (fast food) Quick casual Fine dining Buffet Food safety training Yes No Food safety certification Yes No Characteristic Frequencyª 75 75 75 75 50 33 16 6 2 230 64 165 122 Percentage 25 25 25 25 46.7 30.8 15 5.6 1.9 76.7 21.3 55 40.7