Food Safety Projects

This page lists EHS-Net food safety projects and study objectives grouped by study topic.

To access a list of EHS-Net publication citations, visit EHS-Net Publications. To access a list of other food safety publications, visit Food Safety Publications.

Foodborne Illness Outbreaks and Their Environmental Antecedents

Evaluation of Outbreak and Nonoutbreak Restaurants (completed)
Study objective: To identify pathogens and contributing factors associated with restaurant-related foodborne illness outbreaks and food-safety differences between outbreak and nonoutbreak restaurants, through systematic environmental evaluations.

Foodborne Illness Complaint System Project (in progress)
Study objective: To develop an “ideal” foodborne illness complaint capture form and evaluation questionnaire.

Foodborne Illness Outbreak Study (ongoing)
Study objective: To identify contributing factors to foodborne illness outbreaks in food-service facilities and to describe the characteristics, policies and practices of those facilities. Food-service facilities include restaurants, delis, cafeterias, schools, nursing homes, etc.

General Public’s Beliefs About Gastrointestinal Illness

Beliefs About Sources of Gastrointestinal Illness Population Study (completed)
Study objective: To increase understanding of the population’s experiences with and beliefs about gastrointestinal illness.

Restaurant Policies and Practices and Food Worker Practices/Behavior

Beef Grinding Logs Study (completed)
Study objective: To describe recordkeeping practices of beef grinding activities in retail establishments.

Chicken-Handling Practices Study (in progress)
Study objective: To collect descriptive data on chicken handling and cooking practices in restaurants. Specifically, we will collect data on:

• opportunities for cross contamination from raw chicken to the environment during storage, preparation, and cooking,
• final temperatures of chicken immediately after cooking, and
• opportunities for cross contamination from a contaminated environment to cooked chicken during preparation and cooking.

Cooling Study (in progress)
Study objective: To collect descriptive data on cooling procedures of potentially hazardous foods. We will collect data on

• rapid cooling procedures used,
• begin and end food temperatures during the observation period, and
• types of foods being cooled.

Egg Handling Practices Study (completed)
Study objective: To identify the prevalence of high-risk egg-handling practices and establishment policies in restaurants that serve breakfast all day.

Environmental Surface Sampling Study (in progress)
Study objective: To determine whether outbreaks can be predicted on the basis of environmental samples collected in food-service establishments. This study is being conducted in Iowa.

Food Allergens Study (in progress)
Study objective: To describe restaurant managers’ and workers’ food allergen knowledge, attitudes, policies, and practices.

Food Workers’ Food Preparation Practices Focus Group Study (completed)
Study objective: To examine the relationship between KM/PIC certification, food safety knowledge, and attitudes. The study will describe and compare the food safety knowledge levels and attitudes of certified KM/PIC and non-certified KM/PIC.

Food Workers’ Food Preparation Practices Population Study (completed)
Study objective: To determine self-reported prevalence of food service workers’ safe and unsafe food preparation practices at the population level.

Ground Beef Handling Practices Study (completed)
Study objective: To evaluate ground beef handling practices and the use of irradiated ground beef in restaurants.

Hand Hygiene Study (completed)
Study objective: To describe restaurant food workers' hand hygiene practices and identify factors associated with safe hand hygiene practices.

Ill Food Worker Study (completed)
Study objective: To describe the frequency with which food workers work while experiencing vomiting or diarrhea and factors associated with working with these symptoms.

Kitchen Manager Certification Study (in progress)
Study objective: To examine the relationship between KM/PIC certification, food safety knowledge, and attitudes. The study will describe and compare the food safety knowledge levels and attitudes of certified KM/PIC and non-certified KM/PIC.

Leafy Greens Study (in progress)
Study objective: To collect descriptive data on the storage and preparation policies and practices of leafy greens prepared for raw consumption. We examine

• Leafy green types (e.g., spring mix, iceberg) - form upon receipt (e.g., pre-cut, whole, bagged); type of shipping containers; type of records maintained (e.g., temperature records, source records); and, where possible, the condition and temperature upon receipt.
• Leafy green storage (e.g., type of storage units, temperature of storage units, temperature of product, type of storage containers) in the restaurant.
• Leafy green preparation (e.g., washing, cutting, chopping and mixing practices; buffet serving line practices; temperatures during preparation; form in which greens are served; employee hand contact with leafy greens).

Microwave Use Study (in progress)
Objective: To determine whether a larger study to assess associations between microwave oven usage in food establishments and foodborne illness. This determination will be made after characterization of

• prevalence of microwave oven usage in different types of food establishments.
• types of foods heated or cooked in microwave ovens at different types of food establishments.
• microwaving protocols, if present, in different types of food establishments.
• types of microwave ovens used in different types of food establishments.

Tomato Handling Practices Study (completed)
Study objective: To identify the types of tomatoes used in restaurants, describe tomato-handling practices, and to identify factors associated with safer tomato-handling practices.

Retail Food Safety Programs

Environmental Health Specialists’ Inspection and Outbreak Investigation Practices Focus Group Study (completed)
Study objective: To evaluate behavioral factors, barriers, and motivations that influence safe food-handling practices in food-service establishments.

Manager Certification and Inspection Scores Study (completed)
Study objective: To determine if the presence of a certified kitchen manager results in fewer critical violations.

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