Food Safety Informatics: A Public Health Imperative

Authors

  • Cynthia A Tucker Morgan State University
  • Stephanie N Larkin School of Business, Morgan State University
  • Timothy A Akers Morgan State University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5210/ojphi.v3i2.3832

Abstract

To date, little has been written about the implementation of utilizing food safety informatics as a technological tool to protect consumers, in real-time, against foodborne illnesses. Food safety outbreaks have become a major public health problem, causing an estimated 48 million illnesses, 128,000 hospitalizations, and 3,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. Yet, government inspectors/regulators that monitor foodservice operations struggle with how to collect, organize, and analyze data; implement, monitor, and enforce safe food systems. Currently, standardized technologies have not been implemented to efficiently establish “near-in-time” or “just-in-time” electronic awareness to enhance early detection of public health threats regarding food safety. To address the potential impact of collection, organization and analyses of data in a foodservice operation, a wireless food safety informatics (FSI) tool was pilot tested at a university student foodservice center. The technological platform in this test collected data every six minutes over a 24 hour period, across two primary domains: time and temperatures within freezers, walk-in refrigerators and dry storage areas. The results of this pilot study briefly illustrated how technology can assist in food safety surveillance and monitoring by efficiently detecting food safety abnormalities related to time and temperatures so that efficient and proper response in “real time” can be addressed to prevent potential foodborne illnesses. Key words: foodborne illness, surveillance, technology

Author Biographies

Cynthia A Tucker, Morgan State University

Ph.D., MBA., RD, LDN

Stephanie N Larkin, School of Business, Morgan State University

Bachelors in Science from Purdue University (Food Science & Technology). Stephanie is currently a MBA candidate at Morgan State University

Timothy A Akers, Morgan State University

M.S., Ph.D

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Published

2011-11-07

How to Cite

Tucker, C. A., Larkin, S. N., & Akers, T. A. (2011). Food Safety Informatics: A Public Health Imperative. Online Journal of Public Health Informatics, 3(2). https://doi.org/10.5210/ojphi.v3i2.3832

Issue

Section

Original Articles