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Refrigeration
Practices of Consumers - A Food Safety Alarm Clock?
Sandria L.
Godwin, Furchi Chen, Leslie Speller-Henderson, and Cindy Thompson
Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Research
Seminar Series
Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN
September 10, 2003
The goal of
this project was to determine the food refrigeration knowledge and
practices of consumers in six states. During the first year of the
project eight focus groups were conducted in Tennessee. Outcomes of
these groups were utilized in the formation of a survey instrument
designed to collect quantifiable data from consumers regarding their
knowledge of proper food handling, refrigeration practices and other
food safety issues. Trained interviewers completed a total of 551
questionnaires. The majority of respondents (85%) did not know what the
temperature was of their refrigerator, and only 42 percent knew that it
should be 40 degrees F or below. Almost half (47%) said they had no idea
what the temperature should be. Nineteen percent said that they had a
thermometer in their refrigerator, however half did not remember the
last time they checked it. Non-food items reported as “stored in the
refrigerator” included: batteries, film, candles, tooth bleach, tickets,
bird tallow, cigars, flowers, hosiery, lotions, nail polish, meal worms,
and paint brushes. A follow-up study was conducted in 210 homes to
investigate the conditions under which refrigerated foods were stored.
Temperature loggers (Precision Temperature Data Logger, Spectrum 1000,
accuracy + 0.1F ), which record temperatures each minute, were placed in
several sites within the refrigerators for three to seven days. In some
homes a thermocouple was also placed in a refrigerated hot dog and a
yogurt cup. Mean temperatures within the refrigerators ranged from 35F
for the top shelf to 38F on the bottom shelf. Five percent had average
temperatures above 45F and 28 percent were above 40F. The mean
temperature on the door was 41.4F, however 65 percent had average
temperatures above 40F. The majority of the refrigerator doors (75%)
were above 40F for more than six hours per day. Of these, one-third were
over 45F during those times. Only nine percent actually had a
thermometer in their refrigerator, possibly indicating that some of
those who stated that they had one in the previous study were confusing
it with the temperature dial. Although there were leftovers in almost
all refrigerators, they were dated in only two of those refrigerators.
Moldy, spoiled, or outdated foods were found in 24 percent of the
refrigerators and circumstances that might allow cross-contamination
were observed in 39 percent of the refrigerators. Thus it appears that
circumstances do exist in many homes that increase the risk of
contracting a food-borne illness.
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