Table 7 Proportion of college and university students correctly answering food safety knowledge questions, compared across commonly used questions from an existing, validated food safety knowledge instrument [40], by study year and country
Food safety knowledge question, as worded in this study (showing subscalea, and question number from original questionnaire reference [40]) | This study: undergraduate students at the University of Waterloo, Canada, 2015 (n = 485) | Undergraduate students of the Lebanese American University, Lebanon, 2013 (n = 1172) [33] | Undergraduate students attending a major American university, 2013 (n = 786) [26] | University students at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, 2010 (n = 837) [32] | Female college students living at private and university dorms, Irbid city, Jordan, 2009 (n = 867) [31] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Which procedure for cleaning kitchen counter is best? (CC, 5) | 24.0Â % | 78.7Â % | 27Â % | 32.0Â % | 31Â % |
Which is the most hygienic way to wash your hands? (CC, 7) | 71.5 % | – | 55 % | – | 51 % |
Imagine your electricity went off and the meat, chicken, and/or seafood in your freezer thawed and felt warm. What should you do? (ST, 4) | 56.0 % | – | – | – | 20.1 % |
Which of the following is considered the most important way to prevent food poisoning? (ST, 5) | 84.3 % | – | 71 % | 51.3 % | 58.4 % |
If 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? (ST, 8) | 65.7 % | – | – | – | 49.8 % |
All foods (except whole poultry) are considered safe when cooked to an internal temperature of: (ST, 9) | 41.6 % | – | – | 20.7 % | 33 % |
Which method is the best way of determining whether hamburgers are cooked enough? (ST, 10) | 51.4 % | – | 53 % | – | 8.2 % |
To prevent food poisoning, how long should leftover foods be heated? (ST, 12) | 31.8 % | – | – | – | 36.9 % |
Chilling or freezing eliminates harmful germs (FR, 1) | 77.0Â % | 64.0Â % | 60Â % | 78.3Â % | 52.2Â % |