Evaluating food safety management in professional kitchens.

Poor food safety management and attendant increase of food safety risks in professional kitchens may impact on a significant number of consumers. In this study, the level of food safety management and the attitudes of the kitchen staff in 198 professional kitchens were evaluated by 31 municipal food inspectors. The food hygiene level of each kitchen was based on the hygiene scores evaluated according to the Hygram ® model, which combines risk assessment with Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system. Among 13 scored food safety management areas, personnel hygiene and the control of operations were the hygiene factors most often responsible for unsatisfactory food safety management. Kitchens of the service centres and homes for the elderly had the best food safety management, whereas food services in kebab, pizzeria and traditional kitchens had the worst. Kitchens with a history of foodborne outbreaks or consumer complaints over food safety issues also had significantly more frequent problems with personnel hygiene and inadequate raw material storage than other kitchens. Our results show that the own-checking plan (OCP) and the requirements due to it could improve food hygiene in the professional kitchens but the implementation was inadequate or lacking. The average overall hygiene scores for kitchens correlated (p < 0.01 %) with the level of knowledge on the OCP of the kitchen employees assessed by the inspectors but not with the amount of training received. Good hygiene situation in the kitchen correlated positively with the observed level of knowledge on foodborne hazards (p < 0.01 %) and with the existence of appropriate guidelines for deviations (p < 0.01 %) but negatively with the difficulties in the follow-up of the OCP (p < 0.01 %). Meal preparation steps with the highest hygiene-related risks were food storing, meal preparation and the preliminary preparation of meals. Based on the survey, both the kitchen staff and their respective food inspectors shared the opinion that although knowledge of food safety management was available, the practical implementation of food safety management programmes, their documentation, and the motivation of employees were the main hindrances to successful food safety management. More studies are needed about the risk factors and their influence on foodborne outbreaks.