Publications and Presentations by Study

Beliefs About Sources of Gastrointestinal Illness Population Study
Objective: To increase understanding of the population’s experiences with and beliefs about gastrointestinal illness.

Publication:
Beliefs about Meals Eaten Outside the Home as Sources of Gastrointestinal Illness [PDF - 41 KB] —Journal of Food Protection, 2005. Article includes quantitative data about the population’s beliefs about meals eaten outside the home as the source of gastrointestinal illness, reasons for attributing illness to specific outside meals, and factors associated with attributing illness to outside meals.

Poster Presentation:
Beliefs About Sources of Gastrointestinal Illness: What Factors Are Associated With People’s Beliefs That a Meal Eaten Outside of the Home Made Them Sick? [PDF - 553 KB] —International Association for Food Protection annual meeting, 2004. Poster includes quantitative data about the population’s beliefs about meals eaten outside the home as the source of their gastrointestinal illness and reasons for attributing illness to specific outside meals.

Findings

Egg-Handling Practices Study
Objective: To identify the prevalence of high-risk egg-handling practices and establishment policies in restaurants that serve breakfast all day.

Publication:
Prevalence of High-Risk Egg-Preparation Practices in Restaurants That Prepare Breakfast Egg Entrées: An EHS-Net Study [PDF - 71 KB] —Journal of Food Protection, 2003. Article includes quantitative data about restaurants’ egg-preparation practices, including egg holding time and temperatures, egg cooking temperatures, and sanitization of equipment used to prepare eggs.

Findings

EHS-Net Presentation to EPA’s Office of Water
Objective: To describe EHS-Net and possible water safety projects.

Presentation:
Environmental Health Specialists Network (EHS-Net) [PDF - 176 KB] —EPA Office of Water, 2005. Presentation describes EHS-Net and why it should be expanded to include water projects. The addition of water projects presents a unique opportunity to integrate environmental health data into waterborne disease outbreak reporting and fills public health gaps expressed by both EPA and states related to small drinking water systems.

EHS-Net Summary
Objective: To describe EHS-Net and summarize findings from EHS-Net studies.

Presentation:
Understanding the Causes of Foodborne Illness [PDF - 126 KB] —World Congress on Environmental Health biannual meeting, 2006. Presentation provides background information on foodborne illness surveillance in the United States, describes EHS-Net, summarizes findings from EHS-Net studies, and discusses how these findings might be applied.

Environmental Health Specialists’ Inspection and Outbreak Investigation Practices Focus Group Study
Objective: To evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of environmental health specialists regarding food safety and inspections.

Publication:
Environmental Health Specialists’ Self-Reported Foodborne Illness Outbreak Investigation Practices [PDF - 299 KB] —Journal of Environmental Health, 2008. Article includes qualitative data about environmental health specialists' foodborne illness outbreak investigation practices and difficulties associated with those practices.

Poster Presentation:
Environmental Health Specialists’ Practices and Beliefs Concerning Restaurant Inspections [PDF - 299 KB] —International Association for Food Protection annual meeting, 2005. Poster includes qualitative data about environmental health specialists’ inspection practices and difficulties associated with those practices.

Presentation:
Environmental Health Specialists' Outbreak Investigation Practices: A Qualitative Study [PDF - 424 KB] — National Environmental Health Association 69th Annual Education Conference and Exhibition, 2005. Presentation includes qualitative data about environmental health specialists’ foodborne illness outbreak investigation practices and difficulties associated with those practices.

Findings

Evaluation of Outbreak and Nonoutbreak Restaurants
Objective: To identify pathogens and contributing factors associated with restaurant-related foodborne illness outbreaks and food-safety differences between outbreak and nonoutbreak restaurants, through systematic environmental evaluations.

Publication:
Systematic Environmental Evaluations to Identify Food Safety Differences Between Outbreak and Nonoutbreak Restaurants [PDF - 65 KB] —Journal of Food Protection, 2006. Article includes quantitative data about pathogens and contributing factors associated with restaurant-related foodborne illness outbreaks and about differences between outbreak and nonoutbreak restaurants in the presence of environmental antecedents, such as kitchen manager certification.

Findings

Foodborne Illness Outbreak Study
Objective: To identify contributing factors to foodborne illness outbreaks in food-service facilities and to describe the characteristics, policies and practices of those facilities. Food-service facilities include restaurants, delis, cafeterias, schools, nursing homes, etc.

Poster Presentation:
Understanding Foodborne Disease Outbreaks Using Environmental Assessment [PDF - 93 KB] —Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases biannual meeting, 2008. Presentation includes quantitative data obtained through environmental assessments on the characteristics, policies, and practices of establishments involved in foodborne outbreaks in the EHS-Net catchment area.

Findings

Food-Worker Focus Group Study
Objective: To evaluate behavioral factors, barriers, and motivations that influence safe food-handling practices in food-service establishments.

Publication:
Factors Impacting Food Workers’ and Managers’ Safe Food-Preparation Practices: A Qualitative Study [PDF - 240 KB] —Food Protection Trends, 2005. Article includes qualitative data about food workers’ food-preparation practices [e.g., handwashing, prevention of cross contamination, and holding food at proper temperatures] and factors that impact food workers’ ability to safely engage in these food-preparation practices.

Findings

Food Workers' Food-Preparation Practices Population Study
Objective: To determine self-reported prevalence of food service workers’ safe and unsafe food preparation practices at the population level.

Publication:
Food Service Workers’ Self-Reported Food-Preparation Practices: An EHS-Net Study—International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 2005. Article includes quantitative data about food workers’ food-preparation practices, including handwashing, glove use and checking food temperatures, and factors associated with safe preparation practices.

Findings

Ground Beef Handling Study
Objective: To evaluate ground beef handling practices and the use of irradiated ground beef in restaurants.

Poster Presentation:
Prevalence of Risky Food-Handling Practices in Restaurants That Serve Hamburgers [PDF - 206 KB] — National Environmental Health Association 70th Annual Education Conference and Exhibition, 2006. Poster includes quantitative data on restaurants’ ground-beef handling and cooking practices for hamburgers and describes the frequency of use of irradiated ground beef in restaurants.

Findings

Hand-Hygiene Study
Objective: To describe restaurant food workers' hand hygiene practices and identify factors associated with safe hand hygiene practices.

Publication:
Factors Related to Food Worker Hand Hygiene Practices [PDF - 77 KB] —Journal of Food Protection, 2007. Article includes quantitative data on establishment characteristics associated with food-worker hand washing and glove use practices.

Publication:
Food Worker Hand Washing Practices: An EHS-Net Observation Study [PDF - 77 KB] —Journal of Food Protection, 2006. Article includes quantitative observational data about food workers’ handwashing practices by work activity and glove use.

Presentation:
Food Worker Handwashing Practices: An EHS-Net Observation Study [PDF - 152 KB] —World Congress on Environmental Health biannual meeting, 2006. Presentation includes quantitative observational data about establishment characteristics associated with food worker handwashing practices.

Poster Presentation:
Food Worker Handwashing Practices: An EHS-Net Observation Study [PDF - 100 KB] —International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases biannual meeting, March 2006. Presentation includes quantitative observational data about food workers’ handwashing practices by work activity and glove use.

Findings

Manager Certification and Inspection Scores Study
Objective: To determine if the presence of a certified kitchen manager results in fewer critical violations.

Publication:
Certified Kitchen Managers: Do They Improve Restaurant Inspection Outcomes? [PDF - 65 KB] —Journal of Food Protection, 2009. Article examines relationships between the results of routine restaurant inspections and the presence of a certified kitchen manager.

Findings

Tomato Handling Practices Study
Objective: To identify the types of tomatoes used in restaurants, describe tomato-handling practices, and to identify factors associated with safer tomato-handling practices.

Poster Presentation:
Tomato Handling Policies and Practices in Restaurants [PDF - 85 KB] —International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases biannual meeting, 2008. Presentation includes quantitative self-report and observational data on restaurants' tomato handling practices, such as washing, cutting and holding.

Findings

Introduction to EHS-Net
Objective: To provide an overview of EHS-Net

Presentation:
Introduction to EHS-Net [PDF - 276 KB] —Partnership for Food Safety Education, 2007. Presentation provides an introduction to EHS-Net and a update on completed projects and projects in progress.

The Environmental Health Specialists Network (EHS-Net)
Objective: To provide an overview of EHS-Net and the EHS-Net Information System

Publication:
The Environmental Health Specialists Network (EHS-Net) [PDF - 301 KB] —Journal of Environmental Health, 2006. Article includes background information about EHS-Net and the EHS-Net Information System.

Top of Page