Multnomah County Health Department Culturally Specific Food Safety Outreach Project

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ABSTRACT The Multnomah County Environmental Health (MCEH) Food Safety Program regulates the food retail industry in Multnomah County, Oregon. In support of the organization's mission to work in partnership with the communities we serve, to assure, promote, and protect the health of the people of Multnomah County, the overarching goal of the Culturally Specific Food Safety Outreach Project is to assist culturally diverse food establishments to understand food code, reduce violations, and improve inspection scores. Expected outcomes include advancement of MCEH's conformance with Retail Program Standards 6 and 7 and continuous improvement and advancement of the Standards nationally. The proposed strategies are innovatively designed to reduce the occurrence of contributing factors associated with foodborne illness and can be shared and duplicated by other agencies. The Specific Aims of the project are to: 1) Increase culturally diverse food service industry operators' understanding of and ability to comply with Oregon's 2009 Food Code to reduce the spread of foodborne illness. 2) Increase culturally diverse food service industry operators' adherence to Oregon's 2009 Food Code regulations and practices, resulting in improved inspection scores for licensed vendors. 3) Increase MCEH's Food Safety Program's compliance with VNRFRPS Standards 6 and 7. 4) Evaluate MCEH's Food Safety Program's improvement in cultural responsiveness and application of an equity lens to food safety training and support. The overall strategy is to develop and provide food safety trainings that address the needs of culturally diverse food retailers, frame the trainings as a component of food retail business development, and remove the enforcement-focus of food safety regulation. Methodology includes: · Curriculum/training material development; · Accurate translation of training materials into Chinese, Vietnamese, and Spanish, with additional languages added as identified throughout the project period; · Provision of trainings, including mock inspections, in partnership with community-based economic development programming; and · Tracking of participants' inspection scores over time