Factors related to food safety culture among school food handlers in Tokyo, Japan: a qualitative study

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research was to qualitatively explore factors influencing the food safety culture in school meal services from the perspective of school food handlers (i.e., cooks, dietitians). Six in-depth, semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted with of school food handlers (n = 32). Thematic analysis was used to extract meaning from the data. Findings demonstrated that the following multi-level factors influenced the food safety culture of school meal services: (1) individual; (2) organization; (3) environment; (4) management; and (5) management style. These factors may be useful for effectively and strategically improving the food safety culture for food handlers in school meal services.

KEYWORDS:

• Food safety culture
• foodservice
• qualitative study
• school meal

Acknowledgments

Thanks to the school food handlers for their contribution to the study. We are also grateful to Dr Betty Izumi for constructive comments and supports. This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI [grant number 16H00732].

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI [grant number 16H00732].