School Dietitians' Perceptions of Potentially Hazardous Food and Inspection of Food Safety and Sanitation

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to identify school dieticians' perceptions on the Potentially Hazardous Food (PHF) and the inspection of food safety and sanitation conducted by Provincial Office of Education. Questionnaires were distributed to 400 school dieticians in elementary schools in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, and 217 responses were collected. The majority of respondents (64%) defined PHF as food that easily decays at room temperature and over half of the respondents considered Korean cooked vegetables as a PHF. In addition, 4% of respondents completely excluded PHFs from their menus. Forty five percent of the respondents selected CCP rule 7 (delivery and distribution process) and 34% selected CCP rule 6 as the most difficult of the CCP rules to follow. Also, perceptions concerning food safety inspection and sanitation were not high in terms of validity, objectivity, and reliability among the evaluation criteria. The study results suggest that PHF as well as Potentially Hazardous Menu (PHM) definitions and guidelines should be re-established in consideration of traditional Korean food culture and the preparation of Korean foods.