Improving Food Protection through EHS-Net Research

 描述（由申请人提供）：十年来，罗得岛卫生部（HEALTH）一直是环境卫生专家网络（EHS-Net）的组成部分，并在国家一级影响零售食品安全。为了支持健康人2020食品安全目标，卫生部旨在通过干预措施减少食源性疾病，残疾和死亡，这些干预措施旨在减少来自患病食品工人的食品污染，减少手部污染，通过认证的厨房经理在食品制备过程中始终在场来改善控制，并提高监管效率。每项干预措施都建立在先前的EHS网络调查结果的基础上，这些调查结果已经确定了与食品安全问题相关的因素，但通过利用旨在通过针对食品服务机构的食品安全文化来实现最大影响的系统方法来改变研究范式。减少因食品工人生病而导致的疾病和疫情将是赠款头两年的重点。国际扶轮EHS网络将向所有国际扶轮食品机构提供干预包，加强检查，并比较干预交付前后的严重违规行为。行为因素将在一个子集的机构进行评估，并使用旨在衡量积极的食品安全文化指标的调查进行干预前后的比较。其他拟议的干预措施将遵循类似的设计，并在随后几年进行。认证厨房经理干预的结果可用于证明更改食品规范以要求在所有食品制备过程中有认证经理，或模仿罗得岛法律，该法律允许在存在严重重复操作违规的情况下始终要求CKM。卫生部建立了一个有效的合作结构，以实现所列目标。食品保护办公室、传染病流行病学司和国家卫生实验室位于中心位置，将确保有效和协调的反应。罗得岛大学也支持这项全州范围的倡议。卫生部将与EHS-Net合作，对所有EHS-Net研究项目进行数据分析。研究结果将通过科学期刊、报告、对《食品法典》的可能修改以及其他鼓励国家改变食品安全做法的手段传播给公共卫生界。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Rhode Island Department of Health (HEALTH) has been an integral part of the Environmental Health Specialists Network (EHS-Net) for ten years and impacted retail food safety at a national level. In support of the Healthy People 2020 Food Safety goals, HEALTH aims to reduce foodborne illnesses, disabilities, and death through interventions that target reducing food contamination from ill food workers, reducing hand contamination, improving controls through certified kitchen managers always being present during food preparation at food establishments, and improving regulatory effectiveness. Each intervention builds on prior EHS-Net findings that have identified factors associated with food safety issues, but shifts the research paradigm by utilizing a systems approach aimed at achieving maximum impact by targeting the culture of food safety at food service establishments. Reducing illnesses and outbreaks due to ill food workers will be the focus of the first two years of the grant. RI EHS-Net will deliver an intervention packet to all RI food establishments, reinforce with inspections, and compare critical violations before and after the intervention delivery. Behavioral factors will be evaluated at a subset of establishments and compared pre and post intervention using a survey designed to measure indicators of a positive food safety culture. Other proposed interventions will follow similar designs and be conducted in the years that follow. Results from the Certified Kitchen Manager intervention could be used to justify changing the Food Code to require a certified manager during all food preparation, or to mimic the Rhode Island law which allows requiring a CKM at all times if there are serious repeat operational violations. HEALTH has established an effective collaborative structure to achieve the outlined objectives. The Office of Food Protection, Division of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, and the State Health Laboratory are centrally located and will ensure effective, coordinated responses. The University of Rhode Island also supports this statewide initiative. HEALTH will collaborate with EHS-Net in the data analysis of all EHS-Net research projects. Results will be disseminated to the public health community through scientific journals, presentations, possible changes to the Food Code, and other means to encourage national changes in food safety practices.