Pet Ownership and Pet Type Influence Food Safety in the Home: Evidence from a National Survey.

Abstract: Physical contact between humans and their pets increases the potential for zoonotic disease transmission. This study used the 2016 U.S.

Cookbooks in U.S. history: How do they reflect food safety from 1896 to 2014?

Historical cookbooks as a source of recipes and food preparation information would be expected to document advancements in food safety related to kitchen equipment, cleaning, foodborne illness knowledge, and consumer education materials. In turn, this food safety information might be expected to contribute to consumers' food safety behaviors. Using both quantitative and qualitative research methodology, this study assessed how food safety information in cookbooks changed and how quickly advancements were incorporated.

How Clean Are Hotel Rooms? Part II: Examining the Concept of Cleanliness Standards.

Hotel room cleanliness is based on observation and not on microbial assessment even though recent reports suggest that infections may be acquired while staying in hotel rooms. Exploratory research in the first part of the authors' study was conducted to determine if contamination of hotel rooms occurs and whether visual assessments are accurate indicators of hotel room cleanliness. Data suggested the presence of microbial contamination that was not reflective of visual assessments.

How Clean Are Hotel Rooms? Part I: Visual Observations vs. Microbiological Contamination.

Current evidence of hotel room cleanliness is based on observation rather than empirically based microbial assessment. The purpose of the study described here was to determine if observation provides an accurate indicator of cleanliness. Results demonstrated that visual assessment did not accurately predict microbial contamination.

Persistence of Salmonella and E. coli on the surface of restaurant menus.

To the authors' knowledge, the role of restaurant menus as a vehicle for pathogens has not been explored. Menus, however, can pose as a vector for bacterial contamination and transfer. Sampling menus from two restaurants in the Houston, Texas, area showed the presence of up to 100 CFU/cm2 aerobic bacteria.

Using health inspection scores to assess risk in food services.

This study gathered health inspectors' opinions about appropriate weightings of critical, noncritical, and repeat violations under the current food inspection system, and developed a classification of violations for high-, medium-, and low-risk restaurants. Results showed that health inspectors thought that the appropriate weights were five points for a critical violation, one point for a noncritical violation, and double points for a repeat violation. In addition, health inspectors thought that the maximum numbers of critical violations for a high-, medium-, and low-risk category were 2.

Clients' safe food-handling knowledge and risk behavior in a home-delivered meal program.

Objective: To determine typical handling practices of home-delivered meals, and provide appropriate handling instructions to reduce the risk of foodborne illness by improving consumer handling of home-delivered meals.

Design: Once permission was given by the home-delivered meal site directors, clients were provided a voluntary survey and requested by the delivery drivers to complete the self-administered questionnaire. The completed questionnaire was collected by the driver the following day.

Mitigating the risk of food handling in the home-delivered meal program.

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine the length of time between packing and delivery of home-delivered meals, and the extent of foodborne illness risk to the elderly. Procedures to mitigate that risk were also evaluated. Researchers surveyed 95 drivers from home-delivered meal preparation sites in six states across the United States to determine the average length of time that passed during packing, loading, leaving, and delivery.

Analysis of governmental Web sites on food safety issues: a global perspective.

Despite a growing concern over food safety issues, as well as a growing dependence on the Internet as a source of information, little research has been done to examine the presence and relevance of food safety-related information on Web sites. The study reported here conducted Web site analysis in order to examine the current operational status of governmental Web sites on food safety issues. The study also evaluated Web site usability, especially information dimensionalities such as utility, currency, and relevance of content, from the perspective of the English-speaking consumer.

Food safety certification regulations in the United States.

Food handlers often lack food safety training. Adequate training is important because foodborne illness results in costs of $7.7 to $23 billion per year to consumers, the food industry, and the national economy.

Food service health inspectors' opinions on the reporting of inspections in the media.

Media reporting of restaurant inspection results is a topic hotly debated by food service health inspectors. A survey of Indiana health inspectors was conducted to determine attitudes, preferences, and perceptions about the impact of media reporting. The survey showed that in the geographic areas of slightly fewer than half of the respondents, inspection results were already being reported in the media.