Terrible Food Safety Habits of Celebrity Chefs
A new study revealed that celebrity chefs have poor food safety habits which include lack of hand washing and unclean food preparation behaviors during their shows.
According to Kansas State University study, some celebrity chefs who are part of the research are guilty of exhibiting common food safety hazards that included lack of hand-washing, not changing the cutting boards between raw meat and vegetables that wouldn’t be cooked, and not using a meat thermometer to check meat doneness.
This finding is confirmed by Edgar Chambers IV, one of the researchers of the study and a food safety from Kansas State University food safety experts who said, “Twenty-three percent of chefs licked their fingers; that’s terrible.”
This study recently published “Food safety behaviors observed in celebrity chefs across a variety of programs” in the Journal of Public Health.
The Study and Results
The researchers viewed 100 cooking shows with 24 popular celebrity chefs and they found several unclean food preparation behaviors.
The study found that twenty percent touched their hair or dirty clothing or things and then touched food again.
Aside from that, some chefs were oblivious on the importance of hand washing. In fact, the researchers saw some chefs wash their hands in the beginning before preparing food, but they didn’t wash their hands during food preparation when they should have.
Sadly, out of the 24 celebrity chefs, nobody received a perfect score.
Not Modeling Good Behaviors For Viewers
With the results of the study, the researchers said the chefs’ poor safety food habits are not modeling good behaviors for viewers.
Aside from that, the researchers stressed that celebrity chefs should uphold their roles to not only entertain viewers but also to promote proper preparation techniques, helpful kitchen hints, and proper food safety practices.
Chambers said, “I think that celebrity chefs have a responsibility for entertaining us, but they also have a responsibility to give us good food.”
Suggestions From The Food Safety Expert
Chambers stressed the need for the celebrity chefs to educate the viewers on food safety habits because many looked up to them.
Chambers said, “All celebrity chefs have to do is mention these things as they go along: ‘Remember to wash your hands,’ ‘Don’t forget to change out your cutting board,’ or ‘I washed my hands here.”
