title: Relationship between food safety and critical violations on restaurant inspections: an empirical investigation of bacterial pathogen content.
abstract: While various safety control measures exist within the U.S. food system, foodborne illness remains a costly and persistent problem. The purpose of the study described here was to examine the relationship between violations of critical restaurant inspection items ("critical items") and food safety as measured by the bacterial load of illness-causing pathogens. Specifically, the authors' study looked at bacterial pathogens present in foods of two groups of restaurants, those that consistently scored poorly on critical items as compared to restaurants that performed superiorly in the same types of evaluation in Jefferson County, Alabama. Laboratory analyses indicated that 35.7% of the foods tested had detectable levels of Staphylococcus aureus, but no difference occurred between the two groups of restaurants. No other bacterial pathogens were found in any of the tested samples. A total of 45.2% of the food samples were received outside of recommended temperatures. Findings draw attention to the ongoing need to improve temperature control and hygienic practices, specifically handwashing practices, in restaurants.
authors: Tulane University, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Department of Global Health Systems and Development, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA. vayeager@tulane.edu
authors: Valerie A
authors: VA
authors: Yeager
authors: Nir
authors: N
authors: Menachemi
authors: Bruce
authors: B
authors: Braden
authors: Devon M
authors: DM
authors: Taylor
authors: Bryn
authors: B
authors: Manzella
authors: Claude
authors: C
authors: Ouimet
mesh_terms: D000407:Alabama; D058491:Bacterial Load; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003296:Cooking; D005506:Food Contamination; D005511:Food Handling / Q000592:standards*; D005513:Food Inspection; D005516:Food Microbiology; D059022:Food Safety; D005517:Foodborne Diseases / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006235:Hand Disinfection; D006801:Humans; D016555:Matched-Pair Analysis; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012147:Restaurants; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus