Assessment of food safety at university food courts using surveys, observations, and microbial testing

Food courts are popular dining platform in most universities in the United States. However, insufficiently skilled part-time student employees, self-service and shared dining environment, and the low-risk food safety perception among young adult consumer population create an increased risk of cross-contamination and foodborne illnesses in the setting. In a mixed methods approach, using surveys, observations, and microbial testing, this study assessed and contrasted food safety perceptions and self-reported practices among 100 food handlers and 295 consumers, observed practices among 34 food handlers and 149 consumers, and the microbial status of 391 inanimate surfaces and 60 consumer cell phones in common dining areas at university food courts. The findings showed that food handlers were more concerned about food safety in university food courts than consumers (weighted means of 3.66 and 2.88, respectively, 5-point Likert scale; 1 = Not at all, 5 = Very concerned). Our findings also identified gaps between perceptions of the importance for surface and hand sanitation (weighted means from 4.15 to 4.91, 5-point Likert scale; 1 = Not important at all, 5 = Very important), self-reported sanitation practices (weighted means from 4.10 to 4.81 for food handlers and from 2.54 to 3.32 for consumers, 5-point Likert scale; 1 = Never, 5 = Very often), and the actual sanitation practices (observed hand sanitation followed by only 0.9% and 1.6% transactions of food handlers and consumers, respectively). The contamination indicators were often found on dining area surfaces over the period of one year (generic E. coli on 11.9% salad bar/salad bar utensils, 9.8% food serving counters, and 3.3% of consumer cell phones; 79.0% samples containing > 10(4) CFU/cm(2)). The findings will be used to develop effective strategies and consumer education interventions to improve foodservice food safety and reduce the risks of foodborne diseases.