title: Food safety knowledge and practices of young adults.
abstract: The objective of the study described in this article was to ascertain the food safety knowledge and practices of undergraduate students attending a major American university. The study participants were undergraduate college students (mean age 18.9 +/- 1.14 SD) enrolled in a required health course. The students were invited to take a validated food safety knowledge questionnaire as part of a health risk behavior online survey. The 786 respondents indicated their food is most often prepared at on-campus dining facilities and the majority of the students (72%) felt they were "unlikely or "very unlikely" at risk of foodborne disease. The mean food safety knowledge score of the participants was 10.23 (43%) +/- 4.13 SD (25%-60%), indicating the study population overall has poor knowledge of safe food practices. As a result, food safety educational initiatives and awareness campaigns should be developed to better inform young adults about safe food handling practices and habits.
authors.forename: Eric J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: Paul L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Knechtges
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005511:Food Handling / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D059022:Food Safety; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult