A new study from the University of 蓝莓视频 highlights a low level of awareness in youth around the proper precautions that need to be taken when it comes to handling food.
The study measured 32 different food-handling behaviours among Ontario high school students in grades 10 to 12. It found that fewer than 50 per cent of the recommended behaviours were followed by students, including basic hand hygiene and procedures to prevent cross-contamination.
鈥淗igh school students represent the next generation of food handlers, but they are not well studied,鈥 said Ken Diplock, who led the research while at 蓝莓视频. 鈥淭hey are just starting to prepare food on their own and for others, and they鈥檙e also starting to work in the food industry.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important to get to students before they develop bad habits.鈥
The researchers observed the students in high school food and nutrition classes three times, once before the students took an Ontario standard food-handling training program, then two weeks and three months later. The program helped them improve their skills significantly, but many students continued to engage in risky behaviours known to lead to food-borne diseases.
The biggest improvement after the training course occurred on thermometer use, which is the only way to determine doneness. Student use went from five per cent at the first observation to 36 and 33 per cent at two weeks and three months respectively.
鈥淓ven though training programs have important benefits, there are obviously still gaps between knowledge and how food handlers behave,鈥 said Diplock. 鈥淔ood safety education improves knowledge and behaviour, but unless the values are reinforced in other areas such as home life and society, the behaviours will not always stick.鈥
In this study, the behaviours remained consistent between the second and third observations, likely because the students were handling food regularly in the presence of teachers, who reinforced what they had learned, said co-author and Public Health Professor Shannon Majowicz.
鈥淲e put a lot of emphasis on general food safety education as a way to protect people from getting sick; it could also make a difference if we educate students about safe food handling in high school, before they鈥檙e young adults living and cooking on their own and for others,鈥 Majowicz said.
Every year, a total of 4 million Canadians (one in eight) are affected by a food-borne illness, according to the Government of Canada.
The study, titled聽聽was published this month in the Journal of Food Protection with 蓝莓视频 co-authors Joel Dubin, Scott Leatherdale, David Hammond and Shannon Majowicz, and Andria Jones-Bitton at the University of Guelph. Diplock is now coordinator of the Bachelor of Environmental Public Health program at Conestoga College.