The effect of an educational intervention on small cheese operations: an exploratory study
Open Access
- Author:
- Mattos Machado, Robson A
- Graduate Program:
- Food Science
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- April 08, 2016
- Committee Members:
- Catherine Nettles Cutter, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Catherine Nettles Cutter, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Rama B Radhakrishna, Committee Member
Kerry Elizabeth Kaylegian, Committee Member
Robert F Roberts, Committee Member
Ernest Peter Hovingh, Special Member - Keywords:
- Cheese
farmstead
training
Extension
food safety
sanitation - Abstract:
- The history of dairy is intertwined with our own origins. The processing of milk for cheesemaking was a critical development in early agriculture. Cheesemaking allows for the preservation of milk into a non-perishable and transportable form, and makes it more digestible. After the first cattle were introduced in the United States (U.S.) in the early 1600s, along with the first dairy breeds in the 1800s, mass production of dairy products began with the movement of people from the farms to the cities at the turn of the 20th century. Total milk production steadily increased after the mid-1970s in the U.S., with the parallel increase in milk production per cow. Meanwhile, average cow numbers per farm in the U.S. have decreased with many cows are now concentrated on larger farms. Following the increase in milk production, cheese production also has increased over the last several decades, with the U.S. becoming the top producer. In 2014, Pennsylvania was the sixth producer in the country, with 304 dairies holding Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) dairy permits, of which 133 are cheese manufacturing permits. Most of the state's dairy facilities are small-scale, family-oriented businesses with less than five employees. These farms, where the cheesemaker has numerous responsibilities, might find it difficult to have the cheesemaker and other food handlers leave the farm for extended periods of time for food safety training. Given that foodborne diseases are a major health problem in the U.S. and cheese has been involved in foodborne disease outbreaks, the lack of food safety and sanitation training for this audience may pose a risk to consumers. To date, no training program has been developed to address the specific and unique needs of Pennsylvanian cheesemakers. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to improve the safety of farmstead cheese produced in Pennsylvania through a comprehensive food safety needs assessment, and based on the results, develop, deliver, and evaluate a customized educational intervention for cheesemakers in Pennsylvania. The comprehensive needs assessment was accomplished using 4 tools: 1) a survey for Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) dairy inspectors; 2) a survey for Pennsylvania farmstead cheesemakers; 3) observations during cheesemaking sessions; and 4) microbiological sampling and analysis of environmental samples from Pennsylvania dairy farm’s cheesemaking rooms. An overall comparison and compilation of results from each aspect identified key risk factors and gaps in basic sanitation and food safety. Interestingly, dairy processors indicated that their self-assessed knowledge, attitude, and behavior were “good” or “very good” in the areas of sanitation and food safety. The observations indicated that these processors may lack basic food safety practices and demonstrated gaps in their food safety knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. As such, there appears to be a need for food safety training, with an emphasis on sanitation, for this underserved audience. Based on those results, a customized, counter-top food safety and sanitation training program was developed, disseminated, and evaluated for farmstead cheesemakers. Using a pre- and post-test knowledge, attitude, behavior, and skill assessment, it was determined that the training program produced significant increases in knowledge and positive changes in the handwashing skill among participants, but no significant changes in attitude and behavior were observed. An environmental microbiological assessment of cheesemaking rooms, with samplings before and after the training, revealed few significant changes in the microbial load, but some overall improvements were observed. This study demonstrated that a comprehensive needs assessment identified gaps in food safety and sanitation, leading to the development of a customized face-to-face training program, which was proven to be effective for improving the food safety and sanitation knowledge and handwashing skills of cheesemakers in Pennsylvania. Future use of this training program in other states could serve to further support and sustain the current local food movement in the U.S., while ensuring public safety and the success of individual farmers.