Food safety knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of restaurant employees in San Juan, Puerto Rico

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship among knowledge, attitude, and food handling practices of restaurant employees in San Juan, Puerto Rico.;A self-administered questionnaire was designed to obtain information regarding food safety knowledge, attitudes, training experience, and demographic information. The instrument was administered to employees in 25 restaurants; 109 questionnaires were analyzed. For thirty-seven employees from eleven randomly selected restaurants were observed. Odds Ratio, regression and t-test analyses were performed to determine relationships among variables.;The majority of participants who had completed training had higher knowledge scores but these were not statistically different from employees who had not completed training. Participants with and without training demonstrated knowledge of risks of food contamination, proper hand washing procedures, and handling practices that could lead to foodborne illness. Females had significantly higher knowledge scores than males. However, a significant difference was not observed when evaluating food handling practices. No significant differences were found for knowledge scores and age, educational level, experience in the industry and in the study site restaurant.;Overall foodservice employees' attitudes toward food safety were very positive regardless of training. Positive attitude were demonstrated relative to personal hygiene, not smoking in preparation areas, concern and responsibility for preparing safe food, involvement of the manager in their work, and the importance of food safety. Lower attitude scores were found regarding incidence of foodborne illnesses in foodservice operations and the risk of foodborne illness when eating in a restaurant. Therefore employees did not perceive themselves or the restaurant as a threat for foodborne illness.;The specific unsafe practices that were observed included: inadequate hand washing, misuse of gloves, inaccurate use of thermometer, improper cold and hot holding temperatures, incorrect holding and storage of food, and cleaning and sanitizing work surfaces improperly. These are the areas that should be emphasized when training restaurant employees.;Further study is needed to better understand how training affects knowledge and attitudes of restaurant employees. Until employees' attitudes and knowledge improve, it will be difficult for restaurants to produce and serve safe food.