Amc Educational Strategies For Reducing The Occurrence of Foodborne Illness

The vision of the Maricopa County Environmental Services Department(MCESD) is to develop and foster innovative environmental health protectionprograms for the safety of our residents and their environment. TheDepartment's mission is to ensure safe food is provided to the people ofMaricopa County.MCESD strives to provide excellent customer service to permit holders andresidents who rely on food inspection staff to ensure that their food supply issafe. MCESD staff educate customers on the best food safety practices, yetviolations still occur. The average number of violations is not decreasing and theincidence of foodborne illness and outbreak investigations remains constant.MCESD's goal is to reduce the incidence of the top 10 most frequently occurringfoodborne illness risk factors by educating permit holders on the effectiveness ofActive Managerial Control (AMC) and empowering them to implement long-termpreventative controls in their food establishments. The most frequently occurringviolations will be determined by conducting a risk factor study.MCESD developed and implemented a free AMC class in 2012. Althoughattendance has been limited, attendees experienced a 53% reduction in theoccurrence of risk factor violations. Given these results, MCESD wants to createdemand and increase attendance of the class. In addition, alternative methodswill be developed to deliver this vital information to our customers. MCESD willdevelop an AMC Toolbox, consisting of guidance documents, templates, logs,videos, and handouts on policies, training, and verification. These materials willemphasize the shift to a population that learns through the oral and visualdelivery of information. Access to these materials will be streamlined viainspection reports, website design, and other mobile platforms. AMC will befurther incentivized by increasing public awareness of the Department's voluntaryAMC program: the "Cutting Edge Food Safety Partnership." Our Department willdevelop media to showcase Cutting Edge Program participants. Finally, anotherrisk factor study will be conducted in year five to see if the program efforts havereduced foodborne illness risk factors.