Payton, Larry Sean (2013-05). The Food Safety Knowledge Level of Certified Food Managers Who Attended Two Self-Selected Training Courses. Doctoral Dissertation.
Thesis
The foodservice industry is dependent on millions of employees daily to ensure proper and safe food handling of food products consumed by the general public. The State of Texas requires food establishments' management or person in charge be trained in food protection. For this inquiry, the researcher studied the knowledge level gained by food mangers from two food companies and two certification courses. There were 90 food service operations that participated in the study. The data was collected through the use of a food safety knowledge test instrument. The scope of the study was to explore the level of food safety knowledge of two self-selected certified food managers in Texas. Sixty-five percent (65.6%) of the certified food managers were certified by course A and 34.4% were certified by course B. The researcher explored two educational theories that are often utilized in the agricultural education discipline. Adult education and training programs in agriculture should use appropriate and effective instructional methods. Creswell and Martin (1993) inferred a linkage between adult education and instructional design as it related to agriculture. This study explored the phenomenon regarding certified food manager training courses and knowledge level through certification. In agricultural education, lives are affected through education and training. Trede and Wade (1993) suggested that agricultural education helps people improve their lives through an educational process using scientific knowledge. The participants' knowledge test scores were as follows: course A (n=59) 72.9% and course B (n=31) 69.0%. The resulting t-test was determined to the knowledge test score of course A and course B, and proved not to be statistically significant at an alpha level .05. Thus, the researcher concluded instructional design and adult learning theory did not have an impact on the knowledge level of participants as a result of the two self-selected courses for certified food manager training in this study. Food safety knowledge of participants who spoke English or Korean as their native languages were analyzed closely as they represented the largest population of the participants. Korean as a native language represented the largest group at 45.6% of the population. English as a native language represented the second largest group at 43.3% of the population. Certified Food Manager Training is offered in these languages throughout Texas. Differences were found within the participants' native or first languages. The certified food managers who identified as English and Korean native or first language resulted a statistically significant comparison when analyzed via independent t-test. The researcher recommends further research on affects of native language on certified food manager training. This research study discusses potential improvements that may be implemented in future research for certified food management training. The scope of this study utilized two self selected courses that were available to the participating certified food managers. For example, the Food Safety Knowledge Test instrument which was developed specifically for the scope of this research. Although this instrument was only used once it served as a suitable tool for this research project and could serve as a guide for the development of future research instruments. The researcher suggests that future researchers consider utilizing a tested and established research instrument. A study with a broader scope including courses supported by other National and State level accreditation organization as well as increasing the number of participant; may yield additional findings.
