Development and implementation of a "counter-top" training program to increase retention of food safety knowledge, alter behavior, improve attitude and increase skills of spanishspeaking retail employees

Foodborne illness is a concern that is compounded by lack of food safety training, cultural differences, and language barriers in foodservice industries. Needs assessments of Spanish-speaking food handlers from Reading, PA, were conducted by concealed-direct observations, collection of demographic data (gender, country of origin, years of school completed, age in years, years worked in a retail setting, years owning a store, number of employees at this store; part-time or full-time, and number of different customers per week) and manager preference of training surveys The results assisted in the development of a customized "counter-top" food safety training program that addressed common food safety issues occurring in small meat shops, known as carnicerias. Training was designed to increase retention of food safety knowledge, improve attitude, alter behavior, and increase skills of Spanish-speaking employees. The inclusion criteria required establishments have a meat display case, a meat slicer, employees >18 years of age, and employees whose first language was Spanish. Twenty carnicerias were assigned to two treatments groups control (no training) or face-to-face (FTF) training. The FTF training included four food safety assessments: knowledge, attitude, behavior, and a skill performance Assessments were given pre-training, post-training, and delayed-post training. ANCOVA for knowledge and skill results demonstrated a significant difference in post-test and delayed post-test scores when controlling for the pre-test scores of the FTF-trained group. Findings demonstrated that while food safety attitude and behavior changes were not changed significantly, improvements were observed in food safety knowledge and skill. This type of training program could impact establishments positively to improve food safety practices of Spanish-speaking employees.