CFP-NACCHO Research Project
The Conference for Food Protection (CFP) is collaborating with the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) on a two-year research project designed to further the capacity of state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) food regulatory agencies to improve retail food safety and reduce foodborne illness across the United States. Funding for this project is made available through a cooperative agreement with the Food and Drug Administration. The success of this project will be enhanced by input from all CFP constituent groups.
Click HERE for a copy of the CFP-NACCHO Research Project Proposal.
Click HERE for a PDF of Information about the Food Safety Advisory Group
Click HERE for a PDF of the Retail Food Safety Advisory Group Charter
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Posted 7/29/2024
Click HERE for a PDF report titled:
A Survey of Food Handler Training Effectiveness and Its Impact on Behavioral Change in the Workplace
The Conference for Food Protection (CFP) has conducted a two-year study of food handler training offered to individuals who work in retail food establishments. The final phase of this study was a survey of professionals working in the retail food industry, state and local regulatory agencies, academia, and consumer organizations to identify how and when the effectiveness of food handler training was measured and how trainers and those responsible for training determined the extent to which the training influenced behavioral change by food handlers in the workplace.
Posted 6/7/2024
Click HERE for a PDF report titled:
An Investigation of Adult Learning and How It Can be Used to Achieve Behavioral Change
Training effectiveness refers to the degree to which a training program achieves its intended goals and produces the desired outcomes. Measuring training effectiveness involves evaluating the transfer of learning from the training environment to the workplace and assessing the tangible and intangible benefits that result from the training program. The goals and objectives of a training program must be stated clearly and accurately measured. Evaluating training effectiveness is critical to ensure training programs support the objectives of the organization and to assure that training doesn't become redundant. When setting goals and objectives for training, an organization must answer some basic questions related to why, what, when, and how to evaluate the effectiveness of its training program.
Posted 6/7/2024
Click HERE for a PDF report titled:
A Review of Literature Related to Measuring the Effectiveness of Training in General and Food Handler Training in Particular
A literature review was conducted to gather information about food handler training programs and how they are designed to meet the needs of adult learners. The review looked at a variety of topics such adult learning styles, things that help adults learn, barriers to adult learning, and using training to achieve behavioral change.
Posted 6/7/2024
Click HERE for a PDF report titled:
A Focus Group's Perspective of Food Handler Training and How it can be used to Facilitate Behavioral Change in the Workplace.
To better understand the current methods and approaches for food safety training, the CFP convened two focus group meetings with 12 food safety professionals who have a wealth of experience in both retail food safety and teaching food handlers about food safety. The focus group meetings were conducted to gather information about food handler training such as the:
- techniques most effective for teaching food safety and sanitation principles and practices to food handlers,
- barriers that must be overcome when teaching food handlers about food safety and sanitation,
- learning style(s) preferred by food handlers,
- type(s) of training materials preferred by food handlers, and
- time and place preferred by food handlers to conduct training programs.
Posted 08/02/2022:
Click HERE for a PDF report titled:
An Evaluation of Existing Retail Program Standards Networks. Issue Brief May 2022.
In 2021, NACCHO and CFP collaborated to identify state and local regail food regulatory programs participating in state- and region-wide networks. The goal was to unveil the benefits of working in collaboration with other jurisdictions when working towards achieving conformance with the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards and to highlight best practices that resulted from being a part of these networks.
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Posted 06/23/2022:
CFP and NACCHO conducted a study in 2021 to identify, better understand, and assess the application of risk-based inspection (RBI) methods currently employed by local retail food regulatory programs. The study also identified the overarching barriers that prevented the application of RBI methods. A summary report for this project entitled, "Analysis of Factors Influencing the Implementation of Risk-Based Inspections" can be found on the Retail Food Safety Regulatory Association Collaborative website at the following link:
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Posted 01/22/2021:
Click HERE for a PDF report titled:
New Qualitative Study Investigates Factors Associated with Local Health Departments' Initial and Continual Enrollment in the Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards
For retail food regulatory programs, enrollment in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards (Retail Program Standards) signifies a commitment to the continuous improvement of a program's policies, procedures, and operations that drive improved compliance with recommended food handling practices. To understand why certain local health jurisdictions unenroll or never enroll in the Retail Program Standards, the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) conducted a study in 2020 revealing that a lack of support from state or parent agencies, competing priorities, and resource constraints play a major role in jurisdictions unenrolling or never enrolling. The study concludes with clear recommendations for why retail food regulatory program managers could benefit from the continual collaboration of FDA, NACCHO, and partner organizations to build on existing opportunities providing funding, technical assistance, and other resources.
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ARCHIVED INFORMATION:
NACCHO and CFP Seeks Recruits for 2020-2022 Food Safety Advisory Group (FSAG)
To advise NACCHO and CFP on the project aims, the organizations are seeking 10-15 state, local, tribal, and territorial health department professionals, retail food industry professionals, and retail food association staff to become part of a Food Safety Advisory Group (FSAG). The deadline to apply is 5:00 PM ET on November 6, 2020. Members will be notified of the status of their application on the week of November 16.
Click HERE for a copy of the FSAG Recruitment Announcement -- a hyperlink to the FSAG application is available on the 2nd page of this announcement.
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