Detailed Objectives

Objective 1: Enhance collaborations between retail food safety professionals

Objective 1A.

An Agriculture Experiment Station Multi-state Research coordinating committee will be created using established protocols (http://www.escop.msstate.edu/guidelines.pdf) to identify and invite individuals who conduct retail food safety research.  Annual AES committee meetings will be held during Consortium roundtables.  The Committee will be one mechanism to sustain the Consortium after funding ends.  AES Coordinating Committees have been very successful at sustaining USDA CSREES research, such as the National Animal Genome Research Program started in 1993 and still active today.

Objective 1B.

Each year the Consortium will convene a one-day roundtable at the annual meetings of one of the professional organizations: National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) in 2008; Association for Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) in 2009; and International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) in 2010. Each roundtable will be open to consortium members and other meeting participants. Each meeting will result in written proceedings that will be disseminated (see item f in Table 1). A follow-up survey will be administered electronically to all roundtable participants to assess their perceptions of the roundtable and to identify ways to the roundtable process. 

Objective 1C.

To ensure active collaboration is occurring between groups, association partners (AFDO, NEHA, and IAFP) will each appoint a liaison who will work between their organization and the Consortium. Liaisons will report Consortium activities to their association and the Consortium each year. Lastly, liaisons will survey a random sample of members and then communicate organization needs to the Consortium and determine if the Consortium is benefiting the group. The mechanisms for reporting will be developed as part of this proposal. This has worked well for organizations active in the Conference for Food Protection. 

Objective 2: Identify and scientifically validate retail food safety practices.

To support food safety professionals, “proven” practices in retail food safety will be identified and validated. This would for greater consistency and less arbitrary recommendations. Proven practices will be solicited from Consortium members. All practices will be scientifically reviewed and modified, if necessary, to create a repository of “proven” practices. In some cases limited laboratory observations will be used to validate a practice. A description of each scientifically validated practice will be disseminated to food safety professionals using partner organizations (IAFP, AFDO, and NEHA), the Consortium’s website (see Objective 3C), and via Cooperation Extension websites e.g. Utah State University.  

Objective 3: Support the development of integrated retail food safety resources

This objective focuses on defining and refining the tools food safety professionals have readily available to them. 

Objective 3A.

The first task is to identify food safety training and education needs of front-line food safety professionals, such as sanitarians, Extension Educators, and industry trainers. An online survey will be administered to determine what resources are needed to better educate retail food industry workers. Findings will be reported to the Consortium and its partners.  Three areas of need were identified at the first Retail Food Safety Consortium meeting (Las Vegas 2006) and will be addressed as part of Objective 3 (B-D).

Objective 3B.

Non-English language materials will be collected, reviewed, and disseminated through the portal website. Also, food safety professionals who are proficient in other languages will also be identified and asked to review non-English language food safety materials. The Consortium members will be surveyed to identify non-English language proficient food safety professionals and non-English language food safety materials. An initial web search will also be conducted to identify currently available non-English language materials that target the foodservice industry. Only U.S. developed materials will be included in the summary, because regulations might vary too much with non-U.S. resources. After a comprehensive set of materials is compiled, each will be reviewed by at least two native speakers to determine the accuracy and quality of the translation. Only the best materials will be included in the final summary that will be posted to the portal website.

Objective 3C.

Dissemination of Consortium information is vital to its success. One of the main outcomes is to share information and resources. Therefore, a website listing reviewed food safety materials and research papers will be created. Research, education, and outreach information that support retail food safety efforts would be identified, reviewed, and then posted to the newly formed website. The portal website will serve as a one stop repository of reviewed food safety information that specifically targets the retail food industry. A web address (www.retailfoodsafety.org) has been established. The portal website will be designed to make it easy to access credible, useful, science-based information.  A wide variety of materials will be posted to portal website, such as links to regulatory, industry, industry association, and university sites. Consortium members will be asked to identify materials that would be beneficial. Populating the portal website will be an ongoing process. Examples include links, Extension publications, reviewed and validated proven practices, and organization updates.  Regardless of the source, all materials will be reviewed for relevance and accuracy. A sub-committee will be formed to review all materials prior to being posted. Periodic review of the portal website will be done to remove content that is no longer relevant or that is outdated. The reviewers will consist of one member from industry (retail or foodservice), one from government, and one from academia. Sustainability of the portal website will be critical because retail food safety information is constantly changing. Financial support from Purdue University will be provided to maintain a 0.10 FTE computer person beyond the three years of funding for this project.   

Objective 3D.

A series of 26, ten-minute food safety training modules will be prepared. The modules will become an educational tool that can be given to operators both proactively and reactively (such as addressing an out-of-compliance inspection item). The modules will be designed so that both foodservice managers and retail food safety professionals can deliver the modules. All modules will address one of the five CDC risk factors. Each will focus on skill-building rather than in simple change in food safety knowledge. Proposed topics can be found in Appendix C. All modules will be prepared so they can be presented in multiple formats, which will be determined using an online survey administered as part of Objective 3a. All modules will be piloted with at least five foodservice workers and revised accordingly. Modules will be posted on the portal website and information about them disseminated to retail food safety professionals. 

Objective 4: Assist stakeholders set priorities and allocate resources in retail food safety

Collect, prioritize, and communicate retail food safety research and outreach priorities. Create a framework for assessing and prioritizing needs. Assess the research and education needs of all stakeholders, particularly front-line food safety professionals, such as sanitarians. Prioritize needs using a modified Delphi technique at annual consortium meetings (2008, 2009, and 2010). Communicate priorities via the portal website (Objective 3C), through Consortium members, AES Multi-state Research advisory committee, and directly to government agencies.