Did COVID Impact Safe Food Handling Behaviors During Meal Preparation? A Qualitative Analysis of Findings

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, government and public health agencies emphasized the importance of frequent and effective handwashing in reducing the transmission of the COVID-19 virus, but little is known about how these messages and the pandemic itself influenced handwashing behaviors during meal preparation

Program background: This study investigated if the COVID-19 pandemic and handwashing recommendations influenced consumer handwashing behaviors during meal preparation.

Evaluation Methods and Results: A sample of 251 participants was recruited from various communities in North Carolina. Participants were asked to prepare a breakfast meal in a consumer-style kitchen. After meal preparation, researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with each participant. Interview questions included questions about handwashing recommendations since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic; how participants responded to these recommendations; and how handwashing habits changed during the course of the pandemic. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using NVivo software

Eighty-seven percent of participants reported having heard government recommendations for handwashing since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. A majority of participants (62%) reported increasing handwashing frequency; 34% reported that their handwashing habits stayed the same; and 4% reported an initial increase, followed by a change back to ‘normal’ practices. Qualitative analysis identified several reasons behind these behaviors including greater protection from potential “germs”; confidence in existing handwashing habits; and increased use of hand sanitizer. Additionally, approximately 10% of participants distinguished between handwashing during meal preparation and ‘outside of the kitchen’.

Conclusions: These results improve our understanding of how consumers internalize public health recommendations particularly with respect to food handling behaviors and suggest that food safety messages should address consumer perceptions and confidence in order to increase the personal relevance and effectiveness of food safety messages.

Implications for research and/or practice: The general nature and broad applicability of these public health recommendations translate to a broad body public health communicators, practitioners and educators.