The aim of the project is to utilize technology to improve the quality of food safety in Boone County,MO. By Implementing an electronic food inspection system as well as a computer based food handlereducation program offered audio and visual in English, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese the occurrence ofcritical violations cited should decrease, efficiency of staff time at the Columbia Boone CountyDepartment of Public Health and Human Services (CBCDPHHS) will increase and Environmental Healthstaff can use technology to improve inspection uniformity and risk based inspections. The long termobjectives are to incorporate the use of technology to collect demographic data of food service workers toidentify other populations of foreign language speaking food service workers, improve inspectionfrequency, the occurrence of critical violation citations and the links among these factors on food safety inBoone County, MO.The CBCDPHHS mission is to promote and protect the health, safety and well-being of the communitythrough leadership and service. Food safety is an important factor in protecting the health of acommunity. Education plays a key role in the prevention of foodborne illness and food safety.Expanding food service worker education to foreign language speaking employees is vital to the qualityof food safety as well as the occurrence of critical violations and risk factors. Technology can enhancethe performance of the Environmental Health staff to achieve the mission of the CBCDPHHS.The method to achieve the goal of the project are basic. Purchase and implement an electronic inspectionsystem, develop computer based food handler education in audio and visual for Spanish and MandarinChinese speaking food service workers, purchase and use a scantron machine for use in food handlerclasses held monthly by the department to collect demographic data and improve test grading time,identify food service workers immediately that need more education and find populations of food serviceworkers that were not previously identified by use of demographic data collection from the scantron foodhandler test answer sheets. These goals will be achieved through data examination of pre electronicinspection system inspections and post electronic inspection system inspections comparing inspectionfrequency, occurrence of critical violations, corrective action and attendance of foreign language speakingfood service workers.
Food safety education, inspection frequency and critical violation citations all correlate to the prevalence of foodborne illness. It is known that humans must eat to sustain, by improving the aforementioned, the overall health of consumers is improved.
