Each year, one in six people in the United States is sickened by a foodborne illness, resulting in a cost of more than $15.5 billion annually. In addition, an estimated 15 million Americans have food allergies, costing almost $25 billion each year for children alone. “Both foodborne illness and allergic reactions to food are linked to common ingredients such as peanuts, soy, shellfish, dairy and eggs,” said Cynthia Warren, assistant professor of nutrition and food sciences at TWU in Denton, Texas.
“It makes sense to develop strategies to reduce the occurrence of both,” Warren said. “The information in these videos – from maintaining a clean food prep area to safe food temperatures – also is useful for those preparing meals at home.”
Restaurants account for more than half of all reported foodborne illnesses in the country. The TWU study focused on small, independently operated restaurants, which represent 91 percent of the foodservice industry. These restaurants typically have limited resources and access to adequate food safety training programs.
“Most national chains can afford training – which can cost $35 to $50 per employee – or develop their own training,” Warren said. “For a small restaurant with fewer than 50 employees, that can be a significant slice of the budget. Our training videos are free, available to anyone (at www.twu.edu/food-safety) in both English and Spanish, and are easily accessible. You can even watch them on your smartphone.”
Warren said the nature of restaurants — fast-paced environments with high employee turnover — increases the need for accessible training that is easy to understand and to apply to their food service behaviors.
“The issues of foodborne illness and food allergies are very complex,” she said. “There are many laws and a lot of information restaurant workers need to know, understand and apply. The education component is important and needs to be ongoing.”
The TWU food safety training consists of both employee and manager manuals and 12 accompanying videos, available in both English and Spanish. In addition to covering topics such as hand washing, safe food temperatures and cross-contamination, the manuals contain real-life examples of customer illness or death related to food contamination or allergic reaction.
TWU students are featured prominently in the Integrated Food Safety Training videos, both as restaurant workers and customers in scenes shot in the university’s cafeteria, the food product development lab and other campus locations. Graduate student Gabriella Solis narrated the Spanish language videos, while TWU senior learning technologist Corin Walker provided English narration. Local videographer Guy Taylor Sheppard produced the videos.
Researchers developed the training materials based on results from a nationwide survey of knowledge, attitudes and food handling practices in independently operated restaurants, along with in-depth interviews. The materials then were tested at independently owned restaurants in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
“The restaurant owners have been complimentary of the quality of the material and particularly appreciate it being concise and easily understood,” Warren said.
The project was initiated by former TWU professors Dojin Ryu and Lisa Zottarelli, TWU Professor Emerita Carolyn Bednar and Joseph L. Baumert, assistant professor and co-director of the Food Allergy Research and Resource Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Baumert, an expert in food allergens, said mitigating food safety issues is a team effort and requires buy-in from everyone. “I do believe that this training will help to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness or allergic reactions to foods if the employees remember to implement what they have learned into everyday practice,” he said. “The restaurant owner and managers must communicate to the employees that food safety is a top priority of the business.”
An advisory board consisting of national food-safety experts in the field contributed to the Texas Woman’s University research. The TWU-produced food safety videos are a result of a $600,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, resulting in the only research project in the country that took an integrated approach to food safety training. The study was funded through the National Integrated Food Safety Initiative, a program within the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Building on its more than a century of educating students in the field of nutrition and food sciences, Texas Woman’s University is recognized as having one of the nation’s strongest nutrition programs. TWU graduates go on to careers at the highest level in the nutrition field, including directing the nutrition programs for major hospitals, school districts, sports teams and more. For more information, visit www.twu.edu/nutrition-food-sciences/.
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