Consumer handling of hamburgers.

摘要

Ground beef has been linked to outbreaks of pathogenic bacteria like E. coli O157: H7. Consumers may be exposed to foodborne illness through unsafe food preparation. Video footage of 199 volunteers in Northern California as they prepared hamburgers and salad was obtained and analyzed for violations of the 2005 Food and Drug Administration Food Code. A questionnaire about consumer attitudes and knowledge about food safety was administered after each filming session. The average hand washing time observed was 8 seconds. A total of 93% of hand washing did not meet Fight BAC! and 2005 FDA Food Code guidelines. Potential cross-contamination was common, with an average of 43 events noted per household. Hands were the most commonly observed vehicle of potential cross-contamination. Almost half of the participants washed lettuce under running water with hand rubbing as recommended by Fight BAC!. Higher percentages of volunteers used hand rubbing and running water on tomato (67%) and celery (74%). The majority of volunteers shook the water off of their lettuce (58%), tomatoes (75%) and celery (81%) to dry them. Only 27% of volunteers removed stem scars from tomatoes even though studies have shown that higher numbers of bacteria may be found in stem scars compared to other tomato sections. The majority of volunteers, 70% cooked their ground beef patties to the recommended temperature of 160 °F or above. The 30% who undercooked their beef put themselves at risk for foodborne illness. End point temperatures ranged from 112 °F to 212 °F. Volunteers were observed checking burger doneness with thermometers in 4% of households. Only 12% knew that the recommended internal temperature for ground beef. About half of the volunteers indicated that they would buy irradiated meat, but misconceptions about food irradiation are common. Our video analysis of food handling behaviors indicates that consumers expose themselves to potential foodborne illness even while under video observation. Findings indicate that food safety recommendations have not been incorporated into consumer handling behavior, thus supporting the need for increasing the safety of food before it reaches the consumer.