Effectiveness of Food Handler Training and Education Interventions: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

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creativework.keywords - en

Attitude

Food Handling*

Food Industry* / education

Food Inspection

Food Safety*

Food Services*

Humans

Vocational Education* / standards

dc.contributor.author

Young, Ian

Greig, Judy

Wilhelm, Barbara J.

Waddell, Lisa A.

dc.date.accessioned

2024-09-26T11:54:53Z

dc.date.available

2024-09-26T11:54:53Z

dc.date.issued

2019-09-19

dc.description.abstract - en

Improper food handling among those working in retail and food service settings is a frequent contributor to foodborne illness outbreaks. Food safety training and education interventions are important strategies to improve the behaviors and behavioral precursors (e.g., knowledge and attitudes) of food handlers in these settings. We conducted a comprehensive systematic review to identify, characterize, and synthesize global studies in this area to determine the overall effectiveness of these interventions. The review focused on experimental studies with an independent control group. Review methods included structured search strategy, relevance screening of identified abstracts, characterization of relevant articles, risk of bias assessment, data extraction, meta-analysis of intervention effectiveness for four outcome categories (attitudes, knowledge, behavior, and food premise inspection scores), and a quality of evidence assessment. We identified 18 relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and 29 nonrandomized trials. Among RCTs, 25 (64%) unique outcomes were rated as high risk of bias, primarily owing to concerns about outcome measurement methods, while 45 (98%) nonrandomized trial outcomes were rated as serious risk of bias, primarily because of concerns about confounding bias. High confidence was identified for the effect of training and education interventions to improve food handler knowledge outcomes in eight RCT studies (standardized mean difference = 0.92; 95% confidence interval: 0.03, 1.81; I2 = 86%). For all other outcomes, no significant effect was identified. In contrast, nonrandomized trials identified a statistically significant positive intervention effect for all outcome types, but confidence in these findings was very low due to possible confounding and other biases. Results indicate that food safety training and education interventions are effective to improve food handler knowledge, but more evidence is needed on strategies to improve behavior change.

dc.identifier.citation

Young I, Greig J, Wilhelm BJ, Waddell LA. Effectiveness of Food Handler Training and Education Interventions: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of Food Protection. 2019;82(10):1714-1728. doi:https://doi.org/10.4315/0362-028x.jfp-19-108

dc.identifier.doi

10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-19-108

dc.identifier.uri

https://open-science.canada.ca/handle/123456789/2989

dc.language.iso

en

dc.publisher

Elsevier

dc.rights - en

Open Government Licence - Canada

dc.rights - fr

Licence du gouvernement ouvert - Canada

dc.rights.openaccesslevel - en

Gold

dc.rights.openaccesslevel - fr

Or

dc.rights.uri - en

https://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada

dc.rights.uri - fr

https://ouvert.canada.ca/fr/licence-du-gouvernement-ouvert-canada

dc.subject - en

Health

dc.subject - fr

Santé

dc.subject.en - en

Health

dc.subject.fr - fr

Santé

dc.title - en

Effectiveness of Food Handler Training and Education Interventions: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

dc.type - en

Article

dc.type - fr

Article

local.article.journalissue

10

local.article.journaltitle

Journal of Food Protection

local.article.journalvolume

82

local.pagination

1714-1728

local.peerreview - en

Yes

local.peerreview - fr

Oui

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