Perspectives of Environmental Health Officers on Food Hygiene Inspection Criteria and Food Safety Culture in UK Micro- Small Medium-Sized Food Service Establishments.

Introduction: Food safety culture (FSC) is considered a contributory risk factor for foodborne disease (FBD). Integrating FSC into food safety inspections can enhance their effectiveness.
Purpose: This study explores the awareness and perspectives of Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) about FSC and associated inspection criteria.
Methods: A qualitative study was conducted through focus group interviews (n=2) with EHO (n = 11) from rural and urban local authorities (LA). A semi-structured interview guide facilitated discussions within the groups lasting 60-90 minutes, which were recorded and transcribed. A thematic content analysis was performed using NVivo.

Results: The findings indicated that the EHOs conceptualised FSC as one related to people, attitudes, behaviour, and “a collectively held belief system”. They described it as “ingrained”, variable and capable of being “positive or negative”. Key attributes included “proactive leadership” that provides “a framework from the top, which gives the people in the organisation the rules in which to act and behave”, and “management presence” with one EHO noting that “…In those places with a poor food safety culture, the food business operator (FBO) is often absent”. EHOs identified confidence in management (CIM) inspection criteria as capturing aspects of FSC, such as a fully implemented FSMS described by an EHO as “a living FSMS, rather than just a document that sits on a shelf”. Other factors included past and predicted future compliance, for example, “a good history of compliance, consistently rated five”, training and attitudes towards food safety. However, limitations of inspections were noted, including their nature as a “snapshot” in time and the Hawthorne effect.
Significance: EHOs can play an important role in assessing the underlying culture and attitudes towards food safety, which can inform targeted interventions to improve compliance and FSC in food service establishments.