A video study of Australian domestic food-handling practices

Poor food-handling and hygiene practices in domestic kitchens are thought t o be the cause of a significant amount of foodborne illness. Food-handling practices were studied by video observation in 40 home kitchens in Melbourn e, Australia. Participant households included those of single people, coupl es, and families from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds. The kitchens we re continuously video monitored for 1 or 2 weeks during 1997 and 1998. Infr equent hand washing; poor hand-washing technique; lack of hand washing prio r to food preparation; inadequate cleaning of kitchen surfaces; involvement of pets in the kitchen; touching of the face, mouth, nose, and/or hair dur ing food preparation; and lack of separate hand and dish towels were the mo st common unhygienic practices observed. Prior to video surveillance, parti cipant households answered a food-safety questionnaire that related to prep aration and handling of food. These answers were contrasted with the actual practices observed in each household. There was a significant variance bet ween stated (answers provided in response to the questionnaire) and observe d (via video monitoring) food-handling and hygiene practices. The results o f this study raise concerns about consumer food-handling and hygiene practi ces in Australian domestic kitchens. A continuous and increased effort in t he education of the public in the area of hygienic food preparation is indi cated.