Review Assessment of the methodological strategies adopted by food safety training programmes for food service workers: A systematic review Caroline Opolski Medeiros a, * , Suzi Barletto Cavalli a , Elisabete Salay b , Rossana Pacheco C. Proença a a Nutrition Department and Nutrition in Foodservice Research Nucleus (NUPPRE) of Federal University at Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil b Department of Food and Nutrition, School of Food Engineering, University of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil article info Article history: Received 2 June 2010 Received in revised form 2 February 2011 Accepted 9 February 2011 Keywords: Food safety Training Food service abstract This is a systematic review conducted to identify and assess the methodological strategies used in training programmes designed to enhance food safety in food services. Fourteen original articles were selected from the Scopus, Scielo and Medline digital databases. The topics most dealt with in the educational programmes were personal hygiene, food safety and best practices. The resources most widely used during the training courses were interactive media, audiovisual materials, videos, lectures and recreational activities. In addition to being low cost, hand washing activities yield positive results in food safety. Employee training assessment is carried out by using questionnaires, analytical monitoring, a check list and the Likert scale. Hand washing is the most assessed item. The activities most widely accepted by the employees during training courses are interactive media and hands-on activities. These activities contribute toward the enhancement of employees’ skills and knowledge, and encourage changes in attitude and behaviour. Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1136 2. Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 1137 2.1. Review outline ............................................................................................................. 1137 2.2. Investigated results ......................................................................................................... 1138 3. Results ........................................................................................................................... 1138 3.1. Overall characteristics of the studies included in the sample ..................................................................... 1138 3.2. Training topics ............................................................................................................. 1138 3.3. Training methods .......................................................................................................... 1138 3.4. Training assessment ........................................................................................................ 1140 4. Discussion ........................................................................................................................ 1142 5. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 1143 References ....................................................................................................................... 1144 1. Introduction Food-borne diseases (FBDs) significantly affect people’s health and their harmful consequences are reflected on the national economy, development, and on foreign trade (WHO, 2006). In 2000 the World Health Organisation declared FBD prevention and control a public health priority (WHO, 2007). The number of reported and researched FBD outbreaks has increased, revealing that most of them are caused by food mishandling, often due to inappropriate pre-preparation, preparation and distribution of meals by food handlers (Adams & Mortarjemi, 1999; WHO, 2000). Studies have shown that FBD prevention requires favourable hygienic conditions during food preparation, a phase in which the handler plays an important role, since he or she may carry * Corresponding author. E-mail address: caroline.opolski@gmail.com (C.O. Medeiros). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Food Control journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodcont 0956-7135/$ e see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.foodcont.2011.02.008 Food Control 22 (2011) 1136e1144