Knowledge and Attitudes of Food Safety among Hospitality and Culinary Students

A significant number of cases of illness has been attributed to food consumption in restaurants, and as the number of meals eaten away from home continues to rise, the potential for large-scale, foodborne illness outbreaks will continue to increase. It is critical that hospitality and culinary arts students preparing for careers as professionals in foodservice establishments or restaurants have an appropriate understanding of food safety. The level of food safety knowledge was similar between hospitality and culinary arts students, and an analysis of 266 questionnaires indicated that specific areas, such as hand washing, cross contamination in refrigerator, reheating leftovers, refrigeration of cooked food within two hours, proper temperature of food storage, using of thermometers to monitor temperatures, proper egg handling, and possible food borne illness caused by fruits, should be the primary focus of educational resources. Student respondents showed a higher awareness level of responsibility in their roles for food safety, but more emphasis needs to be given to the correct understanding of food safety issues. Hospitality and culinary arts educators can use this precise information to develop food safety education materials and programs to assist in the prevention of foodborne illness and to knowledgeably educate their graduates about food safety.