The presentation by Dr. Ben Chapman covered many interesting topics but was primarily centered on food safety and the spread of Norovirus through unsafe hygiene practices. Dr. Chapman is an associate professor and food safety extension specialist at North Carolina State University. He specializes in consumer and retail food safety culture, home food preservation, and food safety risk reduction.
Dr. Chapman began by educating the audience on what Norovirus is and going over some facts on the virus and how it’s spread. Norovirus has been identified by the CDC (Center for Disease Control) as “an agent of viral gastroenteritis” and is widely known for causing outbreaks of illness among large numbers of people. The CDC estimated that at least 50 percent of food borne outbreaks in the United States were attributed to Norovirus in 2006. According to ServSafe.com, a food safety website mentioned by Dr. Chapman, Norovirus causes “acute gastroenteritis: nausea, frequent and violent vomiting, and/or diarrhea. Other symptoms include low-grade fevers, chills, headaches, muscle aches and fatigue. Onset of symptoms usually occurs 24-48 hours after ingestion of the virus and it can be contracted from as little as 10 viral particles.” Dr. Chapman stated, Norovirus is present in feces and vomit of those infected and is commonly spread by the handling of food without proper hand washing. He went on to say, Norovirus could be spread in the air around a source by aerosol particles; this fact makes the proper handling and clean up of potential infectious sites critical to preventing transmission.
Dr. Chapman next spoke about food safety procedures and how when followed properly they can prevent the spread of food borne illnesses such as Norovirus. Dr. Chapman stated, “One of the main ways to control virus outbreaks is by following proper hand washing procedures”. The CDC lists 6 steps to proper hand washing, “wet your hands with warm water, apply a generous amount of soap, rub hands together for 20 seconds, rinse hands, dry hands with a paper towel, and use the paper towel to turn off the faucet and open the door”. The other major factor cited by Dr. Chapman in preventing food illnesses was insuring you cook foods to proper temperatures by using a food thermometer. Servsafe.com states, “cooking food to 158 degrees for five minutes or boiling for one minute has been shown to destroy Norovirus”. Dr. Chapman mentioned that this is where “the issue” he had with Gwyneth Paltrow stems from.
The last topic Dr. Chapman brought up was changing the behaviors of people when it comes to food safety practices. He stated, “People use things differently than we expect them to (when it comes to preparing foods)” and “using an integrative behavior model to find out why people do what they do is an important step to fixing problems.” It is important to know what people value in order to change their behavior.
Overall I thought that Dr. Ben Chapman was a good presenter and I enjoyed his horror stories on food safety issues he had seen over the years. I thought the presentation was informative and found it interesting that cooking to temperature is such an important aspect of food safety; before this presentation I cooked foods until the juices ran clear, something Dr. Chapman specifically stated was incorrect. Since listening to this presentation I know I have practiced better food safety techniques in my own kitchen in hopes of avoiding any potential food borne illnesses.
Matt – great point on the importance of behavior change when it comes to proper food safety practice. Dr. Chapman’s reference to the Integrative Behavior Model (IBM) is well utilized here because it states that action is based on intention – to make a successful behavior modification, it is critical that an individual’s self-motivation and resolve serve as the underlying foundation for change. Additionally, the salience, or importance, of the behavior to the individual must be present, as you mentioned above. The IBM was developed from multiple theories, including the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Theory of Reasoned Action. If you are interested in learning some more about the IBM, follow the link below!
http://www.med.upenn.edu/hbhe4/part2-ch4-integrated-behavior-model.shtml
David,
Yes I feel he included the IBM model to show an evidence based theory to back up his ideas on food safety implementations. It does make sense that the individual making the behavior change must value the behavior (intention) for the change to take place (action). Thanks for the link, I actually didn’t have much background knowledge on the IBM before looking into it after this lecture so I know that a better understanding of the model provides clarification for Dr. Chapman’s reference. Do you think there are any other models that could be applied to this food safety implementation?
This was a good discussion Matt. Food preparation safety is something that is very important with regards to preventing the spread of certain diseases and bacteria, but is also commonly overlooked with the modern changes to food preservation and packaging in today’s society. Additionally, I liked that you included the precise steps in the “hand washing” process. Obviously you need soap and water, but it’s important to make sure that it is warm water, and that you thoroughly wash for 20 seconds. Lastly, using the paper towel to turn off the faucet and open the door before disposing is important, to not re-attract germs after washing your hands. I would be interested to know why the temperature needs to be exactly 158 degrees? Seems like a precise number to reach to kill the bacteria, what if you are at 157 degrees for 5 minutes? Additionally, I would like to know more about this “Gwyneth Paltrow” situation? Not sure what she has been claiming about this and how it relates to food safety?
Hey Anthony,
In regards to your questions, I have actually read that once at 160 degrees Fahrenheit it only takes 14 seconds to kill all bacteria but also at that high of a temperature proteins denature quickly and dry out the meat you’re cooking. Other sources show that cooking to 148 degrees for 3 minutes kill 99.9999% of bacteria in meat and don’t dry it out like the higher temperature most likely would. I have also read that Salmonella only dies at temperatures over 150 degrees.. I am not sure why Dr. Chapman chose 158 degrees for 5 minutes but that is the specific numbers he gave during the presentation. In reference to Gwyneth Paltrow, Dr. Chapman explained her cook book falsely states that you only need to cook until the meats juices run clear. This media picked this up and interviewed Dr. Chapman on the subject blowing his response out of proportion and putting his face in the British tabloids insinuating that there was a feud between him and GP.
I also attended this seminar by Dr. Chapman and found his presentation to be very interesting. When he discussed his concern with Gywneth Paltrow, it was a prime example of the issue with media that we briefly discussed in class. The media clearly skewed the result of his study to suggest that her recipes/cookbook could give you food poisoning. I think that a great take away from this, is that you can also capitalize on any media attention, when they get something wrong, to put the correct information out there. In getting interviews from reporters regarding Gywneth Paltrow he was able to increase the dialogue around food safety.