Clients' safe food-handling knowledge and risk behavior in a home-delivered meal program.
OBJECTIVE
To determine typical handling practices of home-delivered meals, and provide appropriate handling instructions to reduce the risk of foodborne illness by improving consumer handling of home-delivered meals.


METHODS
Once permission was given by the home-delivered meal site directors, clients were provided a voluntary survey and requested by the delivery drivers to complete the self-administered questionnaire. The completed questionnaire was collected by the driver the following day. Because of the special needs of the home-delivered meal populations, the questionnaire was made as easy and convenient to answer as possible.


METHODS
Two hundred fifty-eight male clients (31%) and 575 female clients (69%) whose mean age was 79 years participated in the study.


METHODS
The respondents' safe food-handling practices, food safety knowledge, and demographic information were assessed. Average time for delivery and consumption of meals were also measured.


METHODS
Descriptive statistics (frequency and chi(2) test) of the participants' handling of home-delivered meals, their general food safety knowledge, and demographic information were reported. Delivery time and consumption time were calculated for each subject.


RESULTS
Five hundred thirty-six of 869 clients (63%) reported that they ate their meals as soon as they were delivered. Of those clients who did not eat their meals immediately, 234 (82%) stored the cold food in the refrigerator and 142 (58%) stored the hot food in the freezer. More than one-third of the clients (n=277, 35%) reported that they had leftovers and only 34 (15%) ate the leftovers within 2 hours. Significant differences among groups on the basis of a derived food safety knowledge score were observed in terms of whether or not they ate their meal immediately (P<or=0.05). Thirty clients did not report their time of consumption, and the remaining 839 clients consumed their meals an average of 1.22 hours after delivery.


CONCLUSIONS
Time in conjunction with temperature can be used as a hazard control measure to reduce foodborne illness caused by improper food-handling procedures. Careful attention should be paid to the entire period of time from onsite preparation to offsite consumption. Therefore, the success of home-delivered meal programs among older Americans highly depends on multifactorial collaborations. Continued efforts from foodservice providers on safe handling of home-delivered meals are needed to help protect older Americans. At the same time, consumers need more information on handling meals in their homes and a better understanding of the importance of proper handling for prevention of foodborne illness.
Almanza
Barbara A
BA
Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
Namkung
Young
Y
Ismail
Joseph A
JA
Nelson
Douglas C
DC
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005522:Food Services / Q000592:standards*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States