Multnomah County Health Department Culturally Specific Food Safety Outreach Project

ABSTRACTThe Multnomah County Environmental Health (MCEH) Food Safety Program regulates the foodretail industry in Multnomah County, Oregon. In support of the organization's mission to work inpartnership with the communities we serve, to assure, promote, and protect the health of thepeople of Multnomah County, the overarching goal of the Culturally Specific Food SafetyOutreach Project is to assist culturally diverse food establishments to understand food code,reduce violations, and improve inspection scores. Expected outcomes include advancement ofMCEH's conformance with Retail Program Standards 6 and 7 and continuous improvement andadvancement of the Standards nationally. The proposed strategies are innovatively designed toreduce the occurrence of contributing factors associated with foodborne illness and can be sharedand duplicated by other agencies.The Specific Aims of the project are to: 1) Increase culturally diverse food service industry operators' understanding of and ability to comply with Oregon's 2009 Food Code to reduce the spread of foodborne illness. 2) Increase culturally diverse food service industry operators' adherence to Oregon's 2009 Food Code regulations and practices, resulting in improved inspection scores for licensedvendors. 3) Increase MCEH's Food Safety Program's compliance with VNRFRPS Standards 6 and 7. 4) Evaluate MCEH's Food Safety Program's improvement in cultural responsiveness and application of an equity lens to food safety training and support.The overall strategy is to develop and provide food safety trainings that address the needs ofculturally diverse food retailers, frame the trainings as a component of food retail businessdevelopment, and remove the enforcement-focus of food safety regulation. Methodologyincludes:· Curriculum/training material development;· Accurate translation of training materials into Chinese, Vietnamese, and Spanish, with additional languages added as identified throughout the project period;· Provision of trainings, including mock inspections, in partnership with community-based economic development programming; and· Tracking of participants' inspection scores over time