Low-income families are reported to have a limited knowledge of food safety and resources to follow food safety practices compared with the rest of the population. This paper evaluated a virtual food safety educational program targeting food handlers in low-income families. Trained native speakers of English and Spanish delivered course materials in both languages. A total of 60 individuals participated in the program, with 30 participants in each language group. Most were female, and most had fewer than three children. After the program, participants’ food safety knowledge and self-reported safe food practice behavior scores increased significantly from 5.32 to 7.43 (out of 8.00) and from 24.78 to 29.30 (out of 35.00), respectively. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) was used to understand individuals’ behavior change intention of food safety practices. All the TPB constructs’ scores, including attitudes toward the behavior, perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, and behavior change intentions, were improved significantly; however, only the subjective norms and perceived behavioral control were significantly correlated with the behavior change intentions. This virtual educational program improved low-income individuals’ food safety knowledge and changed their food safety attitudes and behaviors, giving a path to develop and evaluate more virtual food safety educational programs in the future.

Purpose: In 2020, an outbreak of Salmonella Stanley linked to imported dried wood ear mushrooms affected 55 individuals in the United States of America. These mushrooms, commonly used in Asian cuisine, require processing, like rehydration and cutting, before serving. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention advise food preparers to use boiling water for rehydration to inactivate vegetative bacterial pathogens. Little is known about how food handlers prepare this ethnic ingredient and which handling procedures could enable Salmonella proliferation.Design/methodology/approach: This study used content analysis to investigate handling practices for dried wood ear mushrooms as demonstrated in YouTube recipe videos and to identify food safety implications during handling of the product. A total of 125 Chinese- and English-language YouTube videos were analysed.Findings: Major steps in handling procedures were identified, including rehydration, cutting/tearing and blanching. Around 62% of the videos failed to specify the water temperature for rehydration. Only three videos specified a water temperature of 100 °C for rehydrating the mushrooms, and 36% of the videos did not specify the soaking duration. Only one video showed handwashing, cleaning and sanitising of surfaces when handling the dried wood ear mushrooms.Practical implications: This study found that most YouTube videos provided vague and inconsistent descriptions of the rehydration procedure, including water temperature and soaking duration. Food preparers were advised to use boiling water for rehydration to inactivate vegetative bacterial pathogens. However, boiling water alone is insufficient to inactivate all bacterial spores. Extended periods of soaking and storage could be of concern for spore germination and bacterial growth. More validation studies need to be conducted to provide guidance on how to safely handle the mushrooms.Originality/value: This study will make a distinctive contribution to the field of food safety by being the first to investigate the handling procedure of a unique ethnic food ingredient, dried wood ear mushrooms, which has been linked to a previous outbreak and multiple recalls in the United States of America. The valuable data collected from this study can help target food handling education as well as influence future microbial validation study design and risk assessment.