Transfer of Training Efficacy in U.S. Food Safety Accreditation

Abstract

The unprecedented growth of the number of people served by the foodservice industry raises the need for greater sanitary awareness for today's culinary professionals. Addressing this, a U.S. national study was conducted to measure the impact of food safety accreditation on health inspection scores. Although a positive connection was established between certified managers in charge and their enhanced knowledge of food safety, surprisingly, no statistically significant correlation was found between accreditation and improved health inspection scores. This indicates that training may not be transferring into improved sanitary practice in foodservice operations. Causes for this lack of transfer of training as well as strategies to improve future accreditation training efforts are suggested.