Food Safety Knowledge and Behaviors of Canadians: Foodbook 2.0

Each year in Canada, an estimated 4 million cases of foodborne illness occur which result in approximately 11,600 hospitalizations and 240 deaths. These illnesses pose significant public health and economic challenges. To address this, current information on Canadians' food handling practices is essential to support evidence-based communication, food safety messaging, and policymaking. This study aimed to describe national consumer food handling behaviors and identify knowledge gaps related to food safety practices. Data were obtained from the Foodbook 2.0 survey, conducted by the Public Health Agency of Canada between 2023 and 2024. Weighted analysis was performed on this nationally representative dataset, with demographic disaggregation to identify high-risk groups and determine the prevalence of unsafe food handling behaviors. Men were more likely than women to refrigerate leftovers more than six hours after cooking (8.4% vs. 5.6%). About 30.0% (95%CI: 29.9-31.0) of respondents rinsed meat or poultry before cooking it "all of the time", with 25.0% (95%CI: 24.1-26.1) of respondents "sometimes" engaging in this practice. The most common method for checking meat doneness was visual inspection (73.6%; 95%CI: 72.6-74.6). These findings highlight the continued importance of targeted food safety education, particularly focusing on proper storage, safe handling of raw meat and poultry, and the use of food thermometers. These results indicate how messaging could be tailored to demographic groups engaging in higher-risk behaviors.