An Innovative Approach to Food Safety Training for Temporary and Retail Operations

Food safety training is an integral component in the public health system designed to prevent the incidence of foodborne outbreaks. However, there is a lack of evidence that food safety training programs directly result in improved food hygiene. The majority of food safety courses are delivered in classroom settings or on-line with no practical component. To assess knowledge of students, a written examination is often required to obtain certification. This training is inadequate as it reflects poor training designs that focus only on producing certified personnel rather than paying attention to achieving competency in food hygiene practice [1,2]. Food safety training leads to an improvement in food safety only if the knowledge imparted results in a positive change in behaviour [3].