Maintstream Ethnic Foods of Concern to the U.S. Marketplace and Their Impact on Food Safety

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: There is very little published information in the scientific literature on the safety of ethnic foods in the U.S. and specifically, ethnic foods that are now found in American mainstream cuisine (we call these "mainstream ethnic foods"). Much of the publicly accessible information has been developed by and is in the possession of food inspectors. Other information is available but access is restricted because they are private properties. Since the demand for new ethnic foods will continue and the American consumer will most likely purchase them in a restaurant or a retail food store, food establishments will continue to influence the wholesomeness and safety of these foods. There is a critical need for science-based information on the safety of ethnic foods. To address this need, the Project Collaborators aim to conduct an online survey of federal, state, local, and tribal food inspectors to identify publicly accessible information on ethnic foods of concern to the US Marketplace. Results of the survey will then be used (1) to identify current mainstream ethnic foods; (2) to identify food safety concerns on these mainstream ethnic foods and recommended solutions, if any; (3) to identify or propose the scientific basis of the recommended food safety solutions on selected mainstream ethnic foods of concern to the US marketplace through laboratory analyses; (4) to integrate the results in current food science and nutrition undergraduate and graduate courses, including Special Topics, Directed Reading and Research, and Food Safety; and (5) to disseminate all results by conducting one-day workshops for food inspectors, food association members, and other food handlers and by posting on a visible location on the web. <P>APPROACH:<BR> 1. Survey: About 3,141 jurisdictions or counties rather than all involved individual inspectors (about 15,000 to 30,000) will be surveyed, with a maximum of 3 inspectors per county. The Dillman Tailored Design Method (Dillman, 2007) and the Zoomerang online survey service (MarketTools, Inc., 2007) will be used. Demographic information about the respondents, the type of official work they perform, the length of time they have been working with ethnic foods, and types of ethnic foods they inspect and observe will be asked. Open-ended questions will be included to determine the concerns they have about these ethnic foods, past history of the product, manufacturer, or country of origin if known; materials they have developed or gathered to help them with their work on ethnic foods; the specific types of ethnic foods that are of food safety concern; ethnic foods that may have entered mainstream cuisine; and their proposed solutions to the food safety concerns, if any. Demographic information would be correlated with their answers to questions on the inspected ethnic foods. Standard statistical and analytical analyses will be performed. <P>2. Identification of science-based explanation for safe ethnic food handling: Twenty wet and twenty dry mainstream ethnic foods will be selected based upon the recommendation of the food inspectors, past history of foods from the manufacturer (if available) or from the country of origin, popularity of the food from the volume prepared and served, and any known information. Two samples of each wet or dry food will be sent to a commercial laboratory to test for their safety (standard plate count, yeast and mold, coliform/E. coli, E. coli, Listeria, and Salmonella; perhaps Staphylococcal enterotoxin and Shigella) and characteristics (e.g., pH, water activity, and percent acid). Dry foods will be examined for extraneous matter or microfilth. There may be other analyses that need to be performed. <P>3. Use of survey results and lab analyses for education and extension intervention: Results of the survey and of the laboratory analyses will be used to develop food safety inspection guidelines for these selected ethnic foods; food safety modules in current food science and nutrition courses; and a one-day workshop on Ethnic Foods Safety for training of foodhandlers of ethnic foods.