The purpose of this study was to assess the sanitation status of knives and cutting boards after microbiological testing. Using observation, education, and supervision, restaurant employees were informed of improvements in handling practices using knives and cutting boards. Data was obtained from a sampling of two Chinese restaurants, which were capable of serving 20 tables or more with a random assignment for the experimental and control groups. The “pretest→intervention→post test” model was used through a 9-week experimental treatment (4 weeks observation, 5 weeks education and supervisory). The results indicated that the aerobic bacteria counts on knives and cutting boards for the experimental group were significantly different (p < 0.05) between the pretest and post test. Though the aerobic bacteria count on knives and cutting boards for the control group in the post test were slightly less than the pretest, the microbial load was not significantly different (p > 0.05)between the pretest and post test. The coliforms on knives and cutting boards for both the experimental and control groups were not significantly different (p > 0.05) between the pretest and post test.
The purpose of this study was to assess the sanitation status of knives and cutting boards after microbiological testing. Using observation, education, and supervision, restaurant employees were informed of improvements in handling practices using knives and cutting boards. Data was obtained from a sampling of two Chinese restaurants, which were capable of serving 20 tables or more with a random assignment for the experimental and control groups. The “pretest→intervention→post test” model was used through a 9-week experimental treatment (4 weeks observation, 5 weeks education and supervisory). The results indicated that the aerobic bacteria counts on knives and cutting boards for the experimental group were significantly different (p < 0.05) between the pretest and post test. Though the aerobic bacteria count on knives and cutting boards for the control group in the post test were slightly less than the pretest, the microbial load was not significantly different (p > 0.05)between the pretest and post test. The coliforms on knives and cutting boards for both the experimental and control groups were not significantly different (p > 0.05) between the pretest and post test.