EHS-Net Completed Projects

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

Studies on Foodborne Illness Outbreaks and Their Environmental Antecedents

Evaluation of Outbreak and Nonoutbreak Restaurants 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 Outbreak Study 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.

Beef Grinding Logs Study to describe recordkeeping practices of beef grinding activities in retail establishments.
Egg Handling Practices Study to identify the prevalence of high-risk egg-handling practices and establishment policies in restaurants that serve breakfast all day.
Food Workers’ Food Preparation Practices Focus Group Study to evaluate behavioral factors, barriers, and motivations that influence safe food-handling practices in food-service establishments.
Food Workers’ Food Preparation Practices Population Study to determine self-reported prevalence of food service workers’ safe and unsafe food preparation practices at the population level.
Ground Beef Handling Practices Study to evaluate ground beef handling practices and the use of irradiated ground beef in restaurants.
Hand Hygiene Study to describe restaurant food workers' hand hygiene practices and identify factors associated with safe hand hygiene practices.
Ill Food Worker Study to describe the frequency with which food workers work while experiencing vomiting or diarrhea and factors associated with working with these symptoms.
Tomato Handling Practices Study to identify the types of tomatoes used in restaurants, describe tomato-handling practices, and to identify factors associated with safer tomato-handling practices.

Environmental Health Specialists’ Inspection and Outbreak Investigation Practices Focus Group Study to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of environmental health specialists regarding inspections and outbreak investigations.
Manager Certification and Inspection Scores Study to determine if the presence of a certified kitchen manager results in fewer critical violations.

Beliefs About Sources of Gastrointestinal Illness Population Study to increase understanding of the population’s experiences with and beliefs about gastrointestinal illness.