Foodservice employees behaviors and the presence of foodborne-illness responsible microorganisms on smart phones

<p>As technology advances, smart phone (SP) use is on the rise, including in foodservice establishments. Likewise, the incidence of foodborne-illness in the United States remains high. The presence of disease-responsible microorganisms on health care employees’ mobile phones is well-documented, but little research has examined this relationship concerning foodservice employees’ SPs. Employees (n=50) from a Michigan foodservice establishment were surveyed for their SP use behaviors, and their SPs were swabbed to detect Salmonella, coliforms, and norovirus. Poor hygienic behaviors, such as SP use in the bathroom (75.5%, n=37) were widespread. ServSafe®-certified employees (46%, n=23) were significantly (p=0.041) less likely to use SPs in the bathroom and washed hands significantly (p=0.035) more frequently before SP use after sneezing and coughing. Scarce coliform growth (4.1 %, n=2), but no Salmonella or norovirus was found on SPs. Unhygienic behaviors reported with SP use during work, necessitate developing policies for SP use by foodservice personnel.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Level thesis:degree_level

Open Access Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Health Sciences

Year dc:date.available

2016

Author dc:creator

• de Gracia,, Louise Louise, R.D.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Anahita M. Mistry, Ph.D.
• Lynne M. Shetron-Rama, Ph.D., M.T. (ASCP)
• Alice Jo Rainville, Ph.D., R.D., C.H.E., S.N.S., F.A.N.D.

• Contamination
• Food Safety
• Foodservice
• Mobile Phone
• Smart Phone
• Food Science
• Nutrition
• Public Health

Repository record dc:identifier

https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1146

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:commons.emich.edu:theses-2499