Wyoming Food Safety Coalition

Wyoming Food Safety Coalition (WFSC)

Impact Statement for 2005

Team Effort Improves Food Safety Behaviors among Food-Service Workers Statewide

Situation

Microbial contamination of food is a serious public health problem: Each year in the U.S, foodborne diseases cause approximately 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths. With approximately 60% of foodborne illness outbreaks nationwide attributable to food-service establishments, food-service personnel are key to reducing the risk of foodborne illness.

Inputs

The Wyoming Food Safety Coalition (WFSC) is a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary partnership that has become the primary source of food-safety education throughout the state. The heart of WFSC is a core of local trained teams*, most of which include a county-based UW CES FCS educator and a health inspector from either the Wyoming Department of Agriculture or a local city/county health department or both. These teams plan and conduct a wide variety of educational programs. USDA grants helped establish WFSC, and workshop registration fees now fund WFSC, along with supplemental grants (for example, from the Food and Drug Administration).

Outputs

In fiscal year 2004,

Ø Coalition team members trained 1,312 food handlers in the following workshops: Basic—177; Intermediate—579; Advanced—66; and ServSafe—490.

Ø In-house trainings reached 1,093 individuals.

Ø Consumer programs and displays reached 480 and 865 individuals, respectively.

Outcomes/Impacts

Thanks to the Wyoming Food Safety Coalition, including leadership from UW CES, hundreds of food workers statewide are handling food more safely.

Medium term: Based on data from a 2001 evaluation project conducted by UW CES for WFSC, this year’s 1,135 participants in WFSC Going for the Gold (intermediate and advanced) and ServSafe workshops are estimated to have made the following changes:

Ø 1,101 (97%) made at least one change related to cleanliness, for example, washed their hands more often.

Ø 908 (80%) made at least one change related to cooling food, for example, put food into shallow containers or cut meat into smaller pieces before putting it in the refrigerator.

Ø 885 (78%) made at least one change related to food preparation, for example, prevented cross-contamination by keeping raw meats, cooked foods, and fresh produce separated.

Ø 851 (75%) made at least one change related to other miscellaneous areas, for example, monitored critical control points more closely.

Ø 795 (70%) made at least one change related to cooking food, for example, used a stove or microwave – not a steam table – to reheat food.

Long term: Improved food handling behaviors, such as those estimated to have been made by workshop participants, increase the likelihood that food served in Wyoming is safe and, therefore, decrease the risk of foodborne illness.

*Members of the Wyoming Food Safety Coalition who have provided training at the local level or who have helped coordinate or facilitate training at area or state levels for all or most of 2005: Brenda Ashworth, Julie Balzan, Tyler Bandemer, Neal Bloomenrader, Terrie Bruckner, Sara Budge, Mike Carl, Jon Cecil, Debbie Collins, Wayne Cook, Mike Dart, John Drinnon, Jennifer Escobedo, Doug Evans, Dean Finkenbinder, Bryan Grapes, Patti Griffith, Vicki Hayman, Ruth Heald, Gary Hickman, Beth Kamber, Roy Kroeger, Doug Krogman, Kevin Krouch, George Larsen, Audrey Leaman, Phyllis Lewis, Gus Lopez, Donny Malone, Mary Martin, Sherry Maston, Stella McKinstry, Rory McManus, Linda Melcher, Amie Merwin, Sue Mickelson, Monica Miller, Shawn Moore, Paul Ng, Michaele Oleson, Jerry Olson, Chris Pasley, Suzy Pelican, Ryan Radden, Keith Raney, Virginia Romero-Caron, Lynn Sammis, Josh Sandlian, Michelle Schwope, Denise Smith, Ellen Southwell, Linda Stratton, Chuck Sykes, and Ann Wittman.