Cook Supervisors' Perceived Performance of Safety Management for Vegetables at Korean Food Restaurants in Daegu

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted to identify risk factors to ensure food safety by evaluating cook supervisors' perceived performance of vegetable safety management at Korean food restaurants in Daegu. Recognition of the potential foodborne illness caused by vegetables was 2.60/5 on average. Inspection items with low scores by respondents during food safety inspection by government agencies were "Wash and sanitize vegetables" and "Keep washed and cut vegetables in the refrigerator". As for storage, perceived performance of "Store vegetable in the refrigerator less than 70% of the refrigerator capacity" scored less than 4 out of 5. About 86% of respondents answered "Water-only washing" for vegetable washing. For perceived performance of vegetable cooking, service, and leftover handling, 11 and three items out of 13 were significantly different depending on the size of restaurants and possession of culinary arts certificates, respectively. Based on results, it is necessary to provide food safety training programs for handling vegetables in order to increase knowledge of cook supervisors. In addition, intensive on-site guidance for safety management of vegetables is needed.