# EH20-001 SNHD Food Safety Culture

> **NIH ALLCDC U01** · SOUTHERN NEVADA HEALTH DISTRICT · 2024 · $192,587

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 Food safety has previously been declared a Winnable Battle by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention and a priority area for the Healthy People 2020
Initiative. Recent research proposes that negative food safety culture be considered an
emerging risk factor for foodborne illness due to its significant impact in outbreaks
(Griffith, Livesey, & Clayton, 2010a). Investigating food safety culture and how to
improve it at the retail food establishment level may be one important route to reducing
foodborne illness.
 The Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) plans to conduct a mixed methods
sequential study to better understand and improve food safety culture. The specific aims
will be to 1) utilize focus groups and surveys to solicit data directly from retail food
handlers and management, 2) use study findings to create resources for retail food
establishments to improve their food safety culture, which may improve adherence to
food safety practices, thereby potentially reducing the transmission of foodborne illness
at the retail food establishment level, and 3) disseminate findings to promote awareness
of positive food safety culture and share improvement strategies.
 First, SNHD will conduct multiple preliminary focus groups with food handlers
and separate focus groups with restaurant management. The goal of these will be
identify examples of positive food safety culture, obstacles impeding positive food safety
culture, and suggestions for ways to improve food safety culture. SNHD will conduct a
thematic analysis on the focus group data to identify common themes. Then, SNHD will
use this data to create a quantitative survey which will be distributed more broadly to
food handlers and management within Southern Nevada to further understand food
safety culture. Finally, SNHD will use the cumulative findings to create resources that
will provide actionable suggestions for retail food establishments to improve food safety
culture, which may improve food safety and reduce illness. The style and type of
resource will depend on the findings, but SNHD is prepared to create infographics, a
series of workshops, and a webinar. Additionally, SNHD will work to disseminate
findings to promote the project to the food safety and environmental health communities
via conferences, presentations, the SNHD website, and/or other available avenues.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11423402
- **Project number:** 6U01EH001369-05M001
- **Recipient organization:** SOUTHERN NEVADA HEALTH DISTRICT
- **Principal Investigator:** Lauren DiPrete
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** ALLCDC
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $192,587
- **Award type:** 6
- **Project period:** 2020-09-30 → 2026-09-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11423402

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11423402, EH20-001 SNHD Food Safety Culture (6U01EH001369-05M001). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11423402. Licensed CC0.

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