title: Investigating the potential benefits of on-site food safety training for Folklorama, a temporary food service event.
abstract: Folklorama in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is a 14-day temporary food service event that explores the many different cultural realms of food, food preparation, and entertainment. In 2010, the Russian pavilion at Folklorama was implicated in a foodborne outbreak of Escherichia coli  O157 that caused 37 illnesses and 18 hospitalizations. The ethnic nature and diversity of foods prepared within each pavilion presents a unique problem for food inspectors, as each culture prepares food in their own very unique way. The Manitoba Department of Health and Folklorama Board of  Directors realized a need to implement a food safety information delivery program that would be more effective than a 2-h food safety course delivered via PowerPoint slides. The food operators and event coordinators of five randomly chosen pavilions selling potentially hazardous food were  trained on-site, in their work environment, focusing on critical control points specific to their menu. A control group (five pavilions) did not receive on-site food safety training and were assessed concurrently. Public health inspections for all 10 pavilions were performed by Certified Public  Health Inspectors employed with Manitoba Health. Critical infractions were assessed by means of standardized food protection inspection reports. The results suggest no statistically significant difference in food inspection scores between the trained and control groups. However, it was found  that inspection report results increased for both the control and trained groups from the first inspection to the second, implying that public health inspections are necessary in correcting unsafe food safety practices. The results further show that in this case, the 2-h food safety course  delivered via slides was sufficient to pass public health inspections. Further evaluations of alternative food safety training approaches are warranted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas 66506, USA.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mancini
authors.forename: Leigh
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.forename: Benjamin J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: Douglas A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Powell
mesh_terms: D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D005513:Food Inspection / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D005516:Food Microbiology; D059022:Food Safety; D005522:Food Services / Q000592:standards*; D005517:Foodborne Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008350:Manitoba; D000078329:Workforce