Back to the future: Low-tech food-safety trainings still best for some audiences
While current training for food safety and sanitation usually incorporates high-technology presentations, such as videos and slide shows, there is still a need for low-tech approaches, according to Penn State researchers.
For unique audiences, such as employees of small-scale dairies that produce artisan cheeses, old-school teaching strategies that do not require electricity may work best. Workers in this sector need to be better trained because of the inherent food-safety risks associated with producing specialty cheeses—mostly from raw milk.
"Investigating and proposing solutions to improve food safety in this sector is important, given that dairy farm and processing environments may be responsible for foodborne pathogens that can contaminate raw milk, cheese and other dairy products," said Catherine Cutter, professor of food science, College of Agricultural Sciences. "Little is known about the food-safety and sanitation knowledge, behavior, attitude and skills of farmstead cheese-makers in the U.S."
Cutter, assistant director of food safety programs for Penn State Extension, noted that after performing a two-year assessment of farmstead cheese-makers in Pennsylvania, her research group developed alternative training materials such as customized, richly illustrated, color flipcharts to train workers.
"These presentations can be given on a picnic table, in a barn or on a front porch," she said. "We saw a need to think outside-the-box for training this audience and developed a method to help them, building on previous work done by colleagues in our department. And while we were working with small-scale cheese-makers in Pennsylvania, what we came up with could be adapted for other similar audiences across the country."
Lead researcher Robson Machado, now a faculty member at the University of Maine who was a doctoral student in food science at Penn State when he conducted the research, assessed the sanitation, personal hygiene and food-safety practices of 17 small-scale cheese-making operations. He administered pre- and post-tests to workers that addressed food-safety knowledge, attitude and behavior, as well as an evaluation of hand-washing skills. He also tested environmental samples from the processing plants to see what microorganisms were present and where they could be found.
Then, he gave workers the low-tech food-safety training and documented how they altered their behavior later. Afterward, Machado measured to see if the newly trained cheese-makers' actions improved conditions at their plants. He discovered that they had.
The curriculum Machado and Cutter developed for the training contains strategies that consider specific characteristics of small and very small dairy farms. It includes two lessons designed to provide workers on dairy farms with the knowledge, skills and a comprehensive explanation of the food-safety rules that they need to follow at work.
The first lesson in the training describes the four steps for cleaning and sanitizing and why they are needed, and the basics of cross-contamination and how it can be avoided.
The second lesson describes the importance of good personal hygiene practices and shows the correct procedure for hand washing, the correct use of gloves and other personal habits.
"Not only did the training have an impact on the food handlers themselves, but we also assessed the environment to see if we could see a reduction in microbes," Machado said. "We saw an improvement in certain microbial populations, such as a reduction in E. coli and other indicators of hygiene."
One troubling aspect of the research that was published today (July 2) in Food Protection Trends was that participating small-scale cheese-makers did not seem to know they were not following sound food-safety principles before being trained, Cutter pointed out.
"What we found is that the processors think that they are doing a great job when the reality is they're not," she said. "The research that Robson did in this study indicated that sanitation and personal hygiene are problems."
In a sort of epilogue to this research, other food safety specialists in Penn State Extension are now developing flip chart-focused lessons to train Amish growers to comply with produce standards in the federal Food Safety Modernization Act.
Ufundi wa teknolojia ya chini wa usalama wa chakula bado ni bora kwa watazamaji fulani, wakati mafunzo ya sasa ya usalama wa chakula na usafi wa mazingira kwa kawaida hujumuisha maonyesho ya teknolojia ya juu, kama vile video na maonyesho ya slaidi, bado kuna haja ya mbinu za teknolojia ya chini, kulingana na watafiti wa Penn State. Kwa wasikilizaji wa kipekee, kama vile wafanyakazi wa maziwa madogo-madogo ambayo hutengeneza jibini za ufundi, mikakati ya kufundisha ya shule ya zamani ambayo haihitaji umeme inaweza kufanya kazi bora. Wafanyakazi katika sekta hii wanahitaji kuwa na mafunzo bora kwa sababu ya hatari za usalama wa chakula zinazohusiana na uzalishaji wa jibini maalum - hasa kutoka maziwa yasiyosafishwa. "Kuchunguza na kupendekeza suluhisho la kuboresha usalama wa chakula katika sekta hii ni muhimu, kwa kuzingatia kwamba mashamba ya maziwa na mazingira ya usindikaji yanaweza kuwa na jukumu la vimelea vya chakula vinavyoweza kuchafua maziwa yasiyosafishwa, jibini na bidhaa nyingine za maziwa, ""alisema Catherine Cutter, profesa wa sayansi ya chakula, Chuo cha Sayansi ya Kilimo." "Kama ilivyoelezwa katika makala hii, ""Kutoka kwa Usalama wa Chakula na Usalama wa Chakula, Utamaduni, Mtazamo na Ujuzi wa Watayarishaji wa Jiji la Farmhouse nchini Marekani"" ni sehemu ya utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti wa utafiti." "Maonyesho hayo yanaweza kutolewa kwenye meza ya matembezi, katika ghala au kwenye ukumbi wa mbele", akasema. """Tuliona haja ya kufikiria nje ya sanduku kwa ajili ya mafunzo ya watazamaji hawa na kuendeleza mbinu ya kuwasaidia, kujenga juu ya kazi ya awali kufanyika na wenzake katika idara yetu." """Tulipokuwa tukifanya kazi na watengenezaji wa jibini wa kiwango kidogo huko Pennsylvania, tulipata kile ambacho kinaweza kubadilishwa kwa watazamaji wengine kama hao kote nchini." Robson Machado, ambaye sasa ni mwanafunzi wa Chuo Kikuu cha Maine, aliangalia mazingira ya afya, usafi wa kibinafsi na usalama wa chakula katika viwanda 17 vya kutengeneza jibini. Mtihani huo ulijumuisha majaribio ya kabla na baada ya kazi ya wafanyakazi, ambayo yalijadili maarifa, mtazamo na tabia ya usalama wa chakula, na pia tathmini ya ujuzi wa kuosha mikono. Pia alichunguza sampuli za mazingira kutoka kwa viwanda vya usindikaji ili kuona ni viumbe gani vilivyopo na vingeweza kupatikana wapi. Kisha, akawafundisha wafanyakazi jinsi ya kutumia vifaa visivyo vya hali ya juu ili kuhakikisha kwamba chakula hakina hatari na akaandika jinsi walivyobadili tabia zao baadaye. Baadaye, Machado alipima ili kuona ikiwa matendo ya watengenezaji wa jibini waliozoezwa hivi karibuni yaliboresha hali katika viwanda vyao. Aligundua kwamba walikuwa wamefanya hivyo. Mpango wa masomo ulioundwa na Machado na Cutter kwa ajili ya mafunzo una mikakati ambayo inachukua sifa maalum za mashamba madogo na madogo sana ya maziwa. Mazoezi hayo yana lengo la kuwapa wafanyakazi wa mashamba ya maziwa ujuzi na maelezo ya kina kuhusu sheria za usalama wa chakula ambazo wanahitaji kufuata kazini. Somo la kwanza katika mafunzo yanaelezea hatua nne kwa ajili ya kusafisha na sanitizing na kwa nini wao ni muhimu, na misingi ya cross-maambukizi na jinsi inaweza kuepukwa. Somo la pili linaelezea umuhimu wa mazoea mazuri ya usafi wa kibinafsi na inaonyesha utaratibu sahihi wa kuosha mikono, matumizi sahihi ya kinga na tabia zingine za kibinafsi. "Si tu kwamba mafunzo hayo yalikuwa na athari kwa watunzaji wa chakula wenyewe, lakini pia tulichunguza mazingira ili kuona kama tunaweza kuona kupunguzwa kwa vijidudu, ""Machado alisema." "Tuliona uboreshaji katika idadi fulani ya vijidudu, kama vile kupungua kwa E. coli na viashiria vingine vya usafi". "Kama sehemu ya utafiti uliochapishwa leo katika jarida la Food Protection Trends, ""watengenezaji wa jibini wadogo waliohusika hawakuonekana kujua kwamba hawakuwa wakifuata kanuni sahihi za usalama wa chakula kabla ya kufundishwa.""" "Kile tulichogundua ni kwamba wasindikaji wanafikiri kwamba wanafanya kazi nzuri wakati ukweli ni kwamba hawafanyi", alisema. "Utafiti ambao Robson alifanya katika utafiti huu ulionyesha kwamba usafi wa mazingira na usafi wa kibinafsi ni matatizo". Katika utafiti wa hivi karibuni, wataalamu wa usalama wa chakula katika Chuo Kikuu cha Penn State Extension wamekuwa wakitengeneza mafunzo ya flip-chati ili kuwazoeza wakulima wa Amish kufuata viwango vya uzalishaji katika Sheria ya Kisasa ya Usalama wa Chakula.