Restaurant Health and Hygiene: A Model Program with Theory-Based Guidelines for Implementation

Date of Award

5-12-2005

Document Type

Undergraduate Capstone Project

Degree Name

Master of Environmental Policy And Management

Organizational Unit

University College, Environmental Policy and Management

Disciplines

Environmental Policy And Management

First Advisor

James Stewart

Keywords

DIffusion of innovations, Employee health, Foodborne diseases, Prevention, Foodborne illness, HACCP, Handwashing, Hygiene, Management, Occupational safety, Health, Restaurants, Sanitation, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point

Abstract

Poor hygienic practices and illness of restaurant employees are major contributors to the contamination of food and the occurrence of food-borne illness in the United States, costing the food industry and society billions of dollars each year. Risk factors associated with this problem include lack of proper handwashing; food handlers reporting to work sick; poor personal hygiene; and bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods. However, traditional efforts to control these causes of food-borne illness by public health authorities have had limited impact, and have revealed the need for comprehensive and innovative programs that provide active managerial control over employee health and hygiene in restaurant establishments. Further, the introduction and eventual adoption by the food industry of such programs can be facilitated through the use of behavior-change theory. This Capstone Project develops a model program to assist restaurant owners and operators in exerting active control over health and hygiene in their establishments and provides theory-based recommendations for the introduction of the program to the food industry.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. Permanently suppressed.

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