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A study was conducted at a small university in the American Southwest. The purpose of the study was to determine the efficacy of a four-year campaign implemented by the university's health services department. The campaign consisted of posting signs in lavatories across campus, reminding students, faculty, and staff to wash their hands after using the facilities.

In 2012, researchers conducted a traditional online survey embedded in a university-wide weekly electronic newsletter. Both students and employees at the participating university were recruited for the study. The sample represented members of the community with potential exposure to the handwashing promotion campaign as described above, as well as to the health risks associated with varying practices of sanitation behaviors among members of a public institution.

Results indicated participants generally believed in the positive outcomes of handwashing practices. Further, they did not agree that handwashing practices would result in negative outcomes. As for self-reported hand sanitization practices, participants relied more on handwashing than using alcohol-based sanitizer to sanitize hands in all instances.

Members of the institution reported having positive beliefs and attitude toward handwashing provide a strong basis for an effective handwashing promotion campaign. The emphasis on positive outcomes of adequate and proper handwashing, however, still needs to continue. Therefore, continuing education for the institution's members on the positive outcomes of handwashing can further enhance their attitude and the sense of responsibility to wash their hands as frequently as needed.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of a structured programme on handwashing which has taken into account of the developmental stage of children.

This is a pilot study using a structured handwashing programme as intervention. The intervention group (n=15) receives the structured education programme on handwashing in addition to their existing curriculum, whereas the control group (n=15) receives only the teaching content of their curriculum. The programme contains five teaching sessions delivered on a weekly basis. Storytelling, health education, games, experiments, and hands‐on activities are planned. Outcome evaluations include the knowledge level and behaviours on handwashing. The behaviour compliance over time is also assessed after the programme.

After the education programme, the knowledge level of students in both groups increased, but significant improvement in handwashing practice is observed only in the intervention group. A noticeable improvement in the handwashing practice of the experimental group is seen immediately after the programme, but the children seem to have difficulties in maintaining the habit.

The small sample size may limit the external validity of findings to other preschool institutions. Future replications of the study are needed with larger, representative samples.

The paper indicates that the knowledge and skills of proper handwashing of preschool children can be positively influenced by the use of a structured education programme. The results of the study suggest some implications for preschool educators, parents, and school health educators.

Given the popularity of online video recipes, the purpose of this study was to explore the potential communication of food safety malpractices in YouTube video recipes.

Content analysis of purposively sampled, high-risk chicken salad video recipes (n = 38) using an observational checklist was undertaken. The checklist was based upon the requirements of the Partnership for Food Safety Education “Safe Recipe Style Guide”, which was annotated with visual and verbal communication of food safety practices being “best practice”, “inadequate” or “absent”.

None of the observed video recipes showed visual handwashing at the start of the recipe. Furthermore, there was a distinct lack of visual communication of handwashing during the video recipes.

The lack of visual and verbal food safety communications within video recipes indicates a failure to adequately inform consumers of risks and safeguarding practices.

Previous research has focussed on communication of food safety practices in broadcasted television cookery programmes and published recipe books; this research extends consumer foods safety research to include resources commonly used by consumers to obtain meal inspiration. To date, this is the first study that has utilised the “Safe recipe style guide” as a tool to assess inclusion of food safety messages.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the knowledge and practices of selected group of Polish children in early school age in terms of issues such as: (1) the principles of food preparation, storage and eating meals; (2) personal hygiene; and (3) basic information about microorganisms.

The auditorium survey method was used. The questionnaire consisted of 15 questions related to the children's knowledge of personal hygiene, the principles of food preparation and storage and the physiology of microorganisms and 13 questions related to the children's personal and food hygiene practice. In total, 169 questionnaires were collected. The study group of children had incomplete knowledge and often reported inappropriate food hygiene practices.

The subjects of food preparation and storage and knowledge of microbes were particular problem areas. By contrast, aspects related to handwashing, the appropriate practices while coughing or sneezing and washing fruit before consumption were positively evaluated. The children demonstrated the most knowledge in the field of personal hygiene. However, a very low percentage of correct answers was noted for the question about handwashing at school. None of the 13 questions related to this practice received more than 90% correct answers. The boys and girls demonstrated a comparable level of knowledge and practice in the area of food safety. It was showed that the place of school influenced answers to a greater extent compared to gender.

The results of the study play an important role in the prevention of food poisoning and are useful for the teachers, staff of training institutions and parents. They can also inspire institutions in countries with a high incidence of food poisoning to search for the causes in the inappropriate hygienic practices of young children.

The purpose of this paper is to examine key determinants (i.e. knowledge, perceived susceptibility, attitudes, confidence, behavioral intentions) associated with practicing health-protective behaviors that could inform development of programs and strategies for improving food handling behaviors of middle school youth.

Middle schoolers (n=1,102; 50 percent boys) completed a questionnaire with the following topics: demographics, food safety knowledge, usual food safety behaviors, perceived susceptibility to foodborne illness, attitude toward food safety, confidence (self-efficacy) in practicing safe food handling procedures, and intended safe food handling behaviors.

Middle schoolers had insufficient food safety knowledge ( _˜50 percent incorrect responses) even though most reported washing their hands before making a snack and washing fruits and vegetables before eating them. Spearman correlation analyses indicated that food safety knowledge and perceived susceptibility to foodborne illness was weakly correlated (r _s≤0.18) and in some instances not significantly correlated with actual behaviors, attitudes, self-efficacy, and behavioral intentions. Attitudes, behavioral intentions, and self-efficacy were key determinants that were significantly and highly correlated (r _s<0.70) with each other. Additionally, knowing when to wash hands was significantly correlated (r _s≤0.13) with actual handwashing behaviors, and attitudes, behavioral intentions, and self-efficacy whereas knowing how to wash hands was not.

Food safety interventions for youth should aim to increase knowledge, challenge perceptions of susceptibility to foodborne illness, and motivate adoption of new safe food handling behaviors, while supporting their already positive food safety attitudes, self-efficacy, and behavioral intentions.

Utilises social cognition models to determine the beliefs, attitudes and knowledge of consumers towards food safety. The main aim was to determine the underlying factors influencing consumers’ implementation of specific food safety practices in the home. The research was conducted in two stages. First, salient beliefs of 100 consumers towards food safety were obtained using open‐ended questions. Second, the food handling practices of 40 consumers were observed and their food safety attitudes and knowledge determined using structured questionnaires. Disparities were shown between participants’ knowledge of specific hygiene practices and their implementation of these practices. Participants demonstrated a lack of and/or inadequate implementation of a number of hygiene practices, including a lack of handwashing, poor hand‐washing technique and inadequate cleaning of surfaces. The results suggest measures of perceived behavioural control, perceived barriers and perceived risk may provide developers of food safety intervention materials with more useful information compared with measures of knowledge or intention.

Appropriate hand hygiene technique is a simple and effective method to reduce cross contamination and transmission of foodborne pathogens. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the frequency of hand hygiene activities among food handlers and consumers in fast food restaurants (FFRs).

A total of 25 FFRs and cafes were visited between May and August 2017 in North West England. A hand hygiene observational tool was adapted and modified from previous studies. The observational tool was designed to record 30 sequential hand activities of consumers and employees. Each transaction consisted of an observed action (e.g. touch with bare hands), object (e.g. exposed ready-to-eat (RTE) foods) and observed hand hygiene practice (e.g. handwashing or cleaning with wipes or sanitisers). Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) swabs of hand-contact surfaces of restaurants’ restrooms were carried out.

Findings revealed that both food handlers and consumers have low-hand hygiene compliance rate in FFRs. Consumers were more likely to clean their hands with napkins after handling exposed RTE food. Food handlers were observed to change into new gloves without washing their hands before handling exposed RTE food. The mean results for all hand-contact surfaces in restrooms were higher than 30 Relative Light Units indicating unhygienic surfaces. Male restroom exit doors’ ATP levels were significantly higher than females.

This study revealed the lack of hand hygiene practices among food handlers and consumers at FFRs and cafes. Restroom hand-contact surfaces revealed high ATP level indicating unhygienic surfaces. This can potentially re-contaminate washed hands upon touching unhygienic surface (e.g. exit door panel/handle) when leaving the restroom.

The purpose of this paper is to determine water availability, sanitation and hygiene (WSH) services, and healthcare waste management in Jordan healthcare facilities.

In total, 19 hospitals (15 public and four private) were selected. The WSH services were assessed in hospitals using the WSH in health facilities assessment tool developed for this purpose.

All hospitals (100 percent) had a safe water source and most (84.2 percent) had functional water sources to provide enough water for users’ needs. All hospitals had appropriate and sufficient gender separated toilets in the wards and 84.2 percent had the same in outpatient settings. Overall, 84.2 percent had sufficient and functioning handwashing basins with soap and water, and 79.0 percent had sufficient showers. Healthcare waste management was appropriately practiced in all hospitals.

Jordan hospital managers achieved major achievements providing access to drinking water and improved sanitation. However, there are still areas that need improvements, such as providing toilets for patients with special needs, establishing handwashing basins with water and soap near toilets, toilet maintenance and providing sufficient trolleys for collecting hazardous waste. Efforts are needed to integrate WSH service policies with existing national policies on environmental health in health facilities, establish national standards and targets for the various healthcare facilities to increase access and improve services.

There are limited WSH data on healthcare facilities and targets for basic coverage in healthcare facilities are also lacking. A new assessment tool was developed to generate core WSH indicators and to assess WSH services in Jordan’s healthcare facilities. This tool can be used by a non-WSH specialist to quickly assess healthcare facility-related WSH services and sanitary hazards in other countries. This tool identified some areas that need improvements.

In 2020, an outbreak of Salmonella Stanley linked to imported dried wood ear mushrooms affected 55 individuals in the United States of America. These mushrooms, commonly used in Asian cuisine, require processing, like rehydration and cutting, before serving. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention advise food preparers to use boiling water for rehydration to inactivate vegetative bacterial pathogens. Little is known about how food handlers prepare this ethnic ingredient and which handling procedures could enable Salmonella proliferation.

This study used content analysis to investigate handling practices for dried wood ear mushrooms as demonstrated in YouTube recipe videos and to identify food safety implications during handling of the product. A total of 125 Chinese- and English-language YouTube videos were analysed.

Major steps in handling procedures were identified, including rehydration, cutting/tearing and blanching. Around 62% of the videos failed to specify the water temperature for rehydration. Only three videos specified a water temperature of 100 °C for rehydrating the mushrooms, and 36% of the videos did not specify the soaking duration. Only one video showed handwashing, cleaning and sanitising of surfaces when handling the dried wood ear mushrooms.

This study found that most YouTube videos provided vague and inconsistent descriptions of the rehydration procedure, including water temperature and soaking duration. Food preparers were advised to use boiling water for rehydration to inactivate vegetative bacterial pathogens. However, boiling water alone is insufficient to inactivate all bacterial spores. Extended periods of soaking and storage could be of concern for spore germination and bacterial growth. More validation studies need to be conducted to provide guidance on how to safely handle the mushrooms.

This study will make a distinctive contribution to the field of food safety by being the first to investigate the handling procedure of a unique ethnic food ingredient, dried wood ear mushrooms, which has been linked to a previous outbreak and multiple recalls in the United States of America. The valuable data collected from this study can help target food handling education as well as influence future microbial validation study design and risk assessment.

Food events, such as food festivals, agricultural shows and village fetes take place throughout the UK, usually in outdoor locations. Consumers’ overall satisfaction with the food purchased at such events is high and they have few or no concerns about the food safety on sale. A wide variety of foods, including some high‐risk products are offered for sale to the public. The temporary nature of these events and the vagaries of the UK climate can mean that traders/exhibitors have to cope with environmental conditions that are less than optimum. Organisers of such events are expected by traders/exhibitors to be knowledgeable on a range of relevant topics such as temperature control, display of open food, handwashing facilities, free samples etc. Guidance for traders/exhibitors and organisers of such events is available from local authority Environmental Health departments, and can be found in the Industry Guide to Good Hygiene Practice: Markets and Fairs.