Skip to main content

Table 4 Odds ratios (and 95 % Confidence Intervals), for demographic and food skills predictors of correct answers for individual food safety knowledge questions, answered correctly by more than 50 % of respondents (n = 485); significant predictors are shown in bold

From: Food safety knowledge of undergraduate students at a Canadian university: results of an online survey

 

Defining Micro-organisma

Preventing Food Poisoningb

Chilling/Freezingc

Hand Washingd

Storing Meals to Eat Latere

Accidental Freezer Thawingf

Determining Burger Donenessg

Age (in years)

0.95 (0.73, 1.24)

1.01 (0.83, 1.22)

1.13 (0.96, 1.33)

1.01 (0.91, 1.12)

0.98 (0.75, 1.28)

1.05 (0.91, 1.21)

1.11 (0.92, 1.34)

Male sex (female = referent)

2.21 (1.47, 3.32)

1.05 (0.68, 1.63)

1.04 (0.52, 2.05)

0.95 (0.61, 1.50)

1.68 (0.87, 3.24)

1.05 (0.62, 1.77)

0.70 (0.40, 1.25)

Faculty

Science

referent

 Applied Health Sciences

0.17 (0.087, 0.33)

6.96 (4.95, 9.79)

0.70 (0.50, 0.98)

0.75 (0.59, 0.95)

0.73 (0.51, 1.04)

0.71 (0.62, 0.81)

1.15 (0.82, 1.61)

 Arts

0.08 (0.59, 1.01)

1.27 (0.98, 1.64)

0.89 (0.80, 0.98)

0.53 (0.47, 0.60)

2.34 (2.00, 2.74)

1.24 (1.12, 1.37)

0.76 (0.63, 0.92)

 Engineering

0.12 (0.04, 0.37)

0.57 (0.29, 1.11)

0.88 (0.54, 1.41)

0.56 (0.35, 0.91)

0.65 (0.46, 0.91)

0.56 (0.45, 0.69)

0.83 (0.60, 1.15)

 Environment

0.36 (0.14, 0.92)

1.24 (0.98, 1.57)

0.97 (0.77, 1.22)

0.76 (0.68, 0.86)

1.63 (1.24, 2.15)

0.91 (0.77, 1.07)

1.25 (0.88, 1.78)

 Mathematics

0.17 (0.08, 0.37)

0.92 (0.56, 1.51)

1.17 (0.88, 1.57)

0.33 (0.23, 0.46)

0.51 (0.37, 0.70)

0.65 (0.56, 0.76)

1.17 (1.01, 1.35)

Co-op program of study (regular program = referent)

1.12 (0.23, 5.34)

0.97 (0.35, 2.68)

1.05 (0.55, 2.00)

0.77 (0.34, 1.71)

1.26 (0.86, 1.84)

1.08 (0.77, 1.51)

1.26 (0.82, 1.94)

Is a current food handler

4.57 (0.10, 215)

5.41 (1.94, 15.1)

0.48 (0.12, 1.89)

3.22 (0.81, 12.7)

0.52 (0.19, 1.45)

3.73 (1.91, 7.30)

0.58 (0.14, 2.38)

Works or volunteers in a…

 …restaurant or other food service location

0.23 (0.001, 41.1)

0.20 (0.03, 1.27)

3.64 (0.46, 28.8)

0.565 (0.17, 1.79)

0.80 (0.45, 1.44)

0.83 (0.31, 2.17)

2.78 (0.25, 30.5)

 …hospital

0.46 (0.05, 4.14)

0.93 (0.14, 6.20)

0.65 (0.36, 1.20)

0.41 (0.27, 0.63)

0.95 (0.33, 2.75)

0.99 (0.61, 1.61)

0.91 (0.43, 1.91)

 …daycare/child care facility

0.27 (0.11, 0.67)

0.64 (0.23, 1.77)

0.72 (0.25, 2.07)

0.74 (0.27, 1.98)

1.82 (0.74, 4.49)

0.88 (0.41, 1.90)

0.77 (0.30, 1.97)

 …long-term care/retirement home facility

omitted due to co-linearity

1.10 (0.10, 12.3)

2.97 (0.30, 29.9)

2.378 (0.50, 11.4)

2.53 (0.49, 12.9)

1.53 (0.23, 10.1)

1.33 (0.17, 10.5)

 Has ever taken a previous food course

1.71 (0.53, 5.54)

1.20 (0.65, 2.24)

1.22 (0.73, 2.04)

0.94 (0.46, 1.92)

1.60 (1.09, 2.36)

0.71 (0.48, 1.05)

1.45 (0.98, 2.15)

Current living arrangement

Living at home

referent

 Traditional-style residence

1.03 (0.24, 4.43)

0.85 (0.30, 2.41)

0.84 (0.38, 1.86)

0.49 (0.27, 0.88)

0.75 (0.33, 1.71)

1.17 (0.37, 3.71)

1.46 (0.78, 2.71)

 Suite-style residence

1.26 (0.11, 15.1)

0.24 (0.06, 1.01)

0.62 (0.24, 1.60)

1.24 (0.52, 2.95)

0.38 (0.18, 0.87)

0.52 (0.28, 0.96)

1.43 (0.60, 3.42)

 Living off campus

0.92 (0.21, 4.10)

0.71 (0.28, 1.76)

0.78 (0.48, 1.26)

0.60 (0.41, 0.87)

0.64 (0.40, 1.03)

0.77 (0.60, 1.00)

0.72 (0.31, 1.68)

Frequency of cooking from basic ingredients

Never or a few times a year

referent

 A few times a month

0.44 (0.21, 0.90)

0.65 (0.30, 1.43)

0.62 (0.30, 1.29)

0.86 (0.63, 1.18)

0.93 (0.56, 1.64)

1.00 (0.70, 1.42)

0.55 (0.31, 0.95)

 A few times a week or more

1.90 (0.57, 6.31)

0.61 (0.23, 1.61)

0.87 (0.31, 2.45)

0.98 (0.32, 2.98)

0.60 (0.46, 0.78)

1.25 (0.55, 2.84)

0.77 (0.39, 1.52)

Good self-described cooking abilityh

1.43 (0.22, 9.34)

1.16 (0.75, 1.86)

1.14 (0.40, 3.22)

1.19 (0.79, 1.79)

0.99 (0.68, 1.44)

0.97 (1.14, 3.52)

2.92 (1.39, 6.14)

  1. aWhat are microorganisms?
  2. bWhich of the following is considered the most important way to prevent food poisoning?
  3. cChilling or freezing eliminates harmful germs (true or false)
  4. dWhich is the most hygienic way to wash your hands?
  5. eIf a family member is going to be several hours late for a hot meal, how should you store the meal to keep it safe until this person is ready to eat it?
  6. fImagine your electricity went off and the meat, chicken, and/or seafood in your freezer thawed and felt warm. What should you do?
  7. gWhich method is the best way of determining whether hamburgers are cooked enough?
  8. hThose reporting the ability to cook the basics from scratch, prepare simple meals from a recipe, or cook almost anything (referent: those reporting they don’t know how to cook, or that they can only cook food when the instructions are on the box)
Back to article page

BMC Public Health

ISSN: 1471-2458

Contact us