Relationship Between Employee Food Safety Training and Food Safety Risk Factors at Fort Liberty Military Installation in North Carolina

Preventing foodborne illness within military operations is essential to maintain the security and defense capabilities of units. Fort Liberty (formerly known as Fort Bragg) in North Carolina is the largest Army installation in the U.S. All food service employees at Fort Liberty must have food safety training. Our study evaluated the status of food safety training for the person-in-charge (PIC) and other food service employees. We also evaluated the extent to which training related to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) five foodborne illness risk factors identified during inspections. Our study used Fort Liberty Department of Public Health 2021 data, which consisted of 716 periodic food service sanitation inspections of 124 facilities. Each inspection consisted of 51 inspectable items, aligned with CDC risk factors and an additional factor of PIC responsibilities and food safety training. Missing food safety training was significantly correlated with deficiencies in the ability of personnel to identify CDC risk factors ( p < .05). The number of deficiencies was significantly higher in facilities that lacked food safety training compared with facilities that received training ( p < .001). Maintaining food safety training by managers and employees likely reduces deficiencies and the potential for foodborne illnesses.