Impact of Training on Employees' Handwashing Behaviors in School Nutrition Programs.

Background: School nutrition employee behavior plays an important role in preventing foodborne outbreaks and protecting the almost 30 million children who partake in daily school lunch.

Objective: The study aim was to compare the impact of using a food safety training program with or without using a realistic-event video on handwashing behavior modification for school nutrition employees.

Design: A 2-group (control and experimental) pretest with 2 post-tests design was used.

A Model for Improving Diet Quality within Child Nutrition Programs: The U.S. Army's Child and Youth Services Healthy Menu Initiative.

The U.S. Army's Child, Youth, and School Services (CYS), which has the capacity to serve more than 70,000 meals/snacks per day, is a geographically dispersed system with facilities worldwide.

The impact of replacing breakfast grains with meat/meat alternatives: an evaluation of child nutrition policy.

Objective: To evaluate the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) rule that allows a meat/meat alternative to replace the breakfast grain requirement three times per week.

Design: A 5-week menu including breakfast, lunch and snack was developed with meat/meat alternative replacing the breakfast grain requirement three times per week. Menu nutrients based on the minimum requirements were compared with reference values representing the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range for fat and a range of reference values representing two-thirds the Dietary Reference Intake for 3-year-olds and 4-5-year-olds.

Varying influences of motivation factors on employees' likelihood to perform safe food handling practices because of demographic differences.

Food safety training has been the primary avenue for ensuring food workers are performing proper food handling practices and thus, serving safe food. Yet, knowledge of safe food handling practices does not necessarily result in actual performance of these practices. This research identified participating food service employees' level of agreement with four factors of motivation (internal motivations, communication, reward-punishment, and resources) and determined if respondents with different demographic characteristics reported different motivating factors.

[Genetic diseases in pediatric patients hospitalised in the town of Ubaté, Colombia].

Objective: Describing genetic disease frequency in a second-level hospital's in-patient paediatric service

Methods: The hospital's statistical department's records for 2005 were comprehensively reviewed; the study was carried out in the town of Ubaté during 2006.

Results: Complex diseases led to nearly 25% of all hospitalisations, including multifactor diseases and congenital malformations. However, an aetiological study and/or geneticist consultation or referral took place on a few occasions.

Hand washing frequencies and procedures used in retail food services.

Transmission of viruses, bacteria, and parasites to food by way of improperly washed hands is a major contributing factor in the spread of foodborne illnesses. Field observers have assessed compliance with hand washing regulations, yet few studies have included consideration of frequency and methods used by sectors of the food service industry or have included benchmarks for hand washing. Five 3-h observation periods of employee (n = 80) hand washing behaviors during menu production, service, and cleaning were conducted in 16 food service operations for a total of 240 h of direct observation.