Food handlers' lack of knowledge, and misunderstanding of safe food temperatures: An analysis using the theory of social representations

Aline da Silva Cota; Rayane Stephanie Gomes de Freitas; Fernando Lefèvre; Elke Stedefeldt

doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2023.113486

Food handlers' lack of knowledge, and misunderstanding of safe food temperatures: An analysis using the theory of social representations

Food Res Int. 2023 Dec;174(Pt 1):113486. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2023.113486. Epub 2023 Oct 12.

Authors

Aline da Silva Cota¹, Rayane Stephanie Gomes de Freitas¹, Fernando Lefèvre², Elke Stedefeldt³

Affiliations

¹ Programa de Pós-Graduação em Nutrição, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Botucatu, 862, Vila Clementino, São Paulo, SP 04039-032, Brazil.
² Faculdade de Saúde Pública, Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida Doutor Arnaldo, 715, Cerqueira César, São Paulo, SP 01246-904, Brazil.
³ Programa de Pós-graduação em Nutrição, Departamento de Medicina Preventiva, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Botucatu, 740, 4° andar, Vila Clementino, SP 04024-002, Brazil. Electronic address: elke.stedefeldt@unifesp.br.

PMID: 37986493
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2023.113486

Abstract

Comprehension is the ability to understand and be familiar with situations and facts. A critical factor causing foodborne diseases is the inadequate temperature during food storage and handling; food handlers often fail to understand this. Therefore, in this study, we investigated how technical language and everyday knowledge operate in the comprehension of safe food temperatures among food handlers in food services. To achieve this, data collection was carried out in two stages. In the first stage, a survey was conducted to 206 food handlers from 14 food service working in the city of São Paulo. Through this survey, we gathered information to characterize the socio-demographic profile of the sample, details about participation in training, and knowledge of technical terms related to safe food temperatures. In the second stage, individuais interviews were conducted on the same day following the questionnaire administration in each food service. A total of 29 interviews were carried out An interview script was developed containing two storylines based on the Fourth Key: "Keep food at safe temperatures," which is part of the WHO's "Five Keys to Safer Food" manual. Further, the collective subject discourse technique, which is based on the theory of social representations, was employed to analyze each interview and construct a representative collective discourse. Analysis of the results indicated that lack of knowledge about safe food temperatures is mainly a result of the misunderstanding of technical terms. The collective discourses obtained results reinforced that food handlers had diverse and erroneous information about food defrosting, and they exhibited low confidence and clarity about safe food temperatures. Overall, psychological, social, and cultural factors affect the formation of social representations that guide food handlers' decision-making.

Keywords: Food handler comprehension; Food safety; Food temperature control; Lack of knowledge; Safe temperature; Social representation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Brazil
Food Handling* / methods
Foodborne Diseases*
Humans
Surveys and Questionnaires
Temperature