Food safety practices and readiness to implement HACCP programs in assisted-living facilities in Iowa

To evaluate current food-handling practices and employee food safety knowledge and attitudes and to provide baseline data for implementing the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) program in assisted-living foodservices for elderly persons.

Food-handling practices were observed at each assisted-living facility using a structured observation form. A validated questionnaire was used to determine demographic information and employees' attitudes and knowledge about food safety.

A convenience sample of 40 assisted-living facilities in Iowa was recruited from a list obtained from the Iowa Department of Elder Affairs.

Descriptive statistics were used to summarize data. One-way analysis of variance was used to assess differences in attitudes and food safety knowledge among the managers, cooks, and other foodservice employees. Multiple linear regression determined the relationship between manager and facility demographics and the food safety practice score.

Proper food-handling practices were followed in many assisted-living facilities, but areas in need of improvement were identified. Some HACCP prerequisite programs were found to be inadequate, including a lack of written standard operating procedures, documentation of food safety practices, and training. Temperatures and chemical concentrations need to be checked routinely. Foodservice employees had a significant amount of food safety knowledge (14.6+/-3.0 out of 20 possible points), and employees with food safety certification scored higher than those with no certification (15.6+/-2.6 and 13.9+/-3.1, respectively; P

Training programs, both basic food safety and the HACCP program, will support improvement of safe food-handling practices and implementation of prerequisite programs and the HACCP program. Developing prerequisite programs, including sanitation standard operating procedures, will aid assisted-living facilities in moving toward HACCP program implementation.