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J Human Nutrition Diet - 2025 - Dufour - Enhancing Food Safety and Infection Control in Mass Foodservice Operations 571.87 kB
Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Enhancing Food Safety and Infection Control in Mass Foodservice Operations: Implementing a Foodservice Provision Audit Tool for Sport (FPAT‐S)
Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Vol.38(5), pp.1-11
2025
PMCID: PMC12402678
PMID: 40891049
Appears in UniSC Supported Open Access Outputs
Abstract
Ensuring food safety and infection control in large-scale foodservice operations is critical to protecting health in mass feeding environments, including athletes' dining halls and institutional dining settings. Athletes at major competitions are at risk of illness in overcrowded dining areas, especially where foodservice safety standards are inconsistent.
Objectives
This study aimed to (1) develop and pilot-test a Foodservice Provision Audit Tool for Sport (FPAT-S) at two major sport competitions to evaluate compliance with infection control and food safety measures, and (2) determine its inter-rater reliability.
Methods
The FPAT-S was tested by health professionals during the 2022 Canada Summer (n = 12) and 2023 Winter Games (n = 9). The tool included 19 questions with binary, multiple-choice, and Likert scale responses. Compliance trends over time and inter-rater reliability were analyzed.
Results
Hand sanitizer availability exceeded 75% compliance and improved over time, whereas staff sanitation compliance declined by the end of both events. Physical distancing compliance remained below 50% throughout. Binary response questions showed moderate agreement (κ = 0.471, p = 0.028) between auditors compared to scale and multiple-choice questions during the Summer phase, while agreement was lower and non-significant for scale and multiple-choice responses in both phases. Auditor variability was attributed to subjectivity and audit timing.
Conclusion
The FPAT-S provides a structured approach to assessing food safety and infection control in mass foodservice settings. With refinement, it can support dietitians and foodservice managers in maintaining compliance across a range of institutional and commercial operations, beyond sporting events, and inform future public health infection control strategies.
Details
- Title
- Enhancing Food Safety and Infection Control in Mass Foodservice Operations: Implementing a Foodservice Provision Audit Tool for Sport (FPAT‐S)
- Authors
- Angela C. Dufour (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health - Nutrition & DieteticsFiona E. Pelly - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health - Nutrition & DieteticsHattie H. Wright - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health - Nutrition & DieteticsRachael Thurecht - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health - Nutrition & Dietetics
- Publication details
- Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Vol.38(5), pp.1-11
- Publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
- Date published
- 2025
- DOI
- 10.1111/jhn.70117
- ISSN
- 1365-277X; 0952-3871
- PMID
- 40891049; PMC12402678
- Copyright note
- © 2025 The Author(s). Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Dietetic Association. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
- Data Availability
- The data that support the findings of this study are available in the supporting material of this article.
- Grant note
- This study was supported by a stipend scholarship provided by the University of the Sunshine Coast, QLD, Australia.
- Organisation Unit
- Healthy Ageing Research Cluster; School of Health - Nutrition & Dietetics; Cancer Research Cluster; External
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991155617302621
- Output Type
- Journal article
Metrics
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