[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 49 (Thursday, March 12, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14455-14457]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-05076]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. FSIS-2020-0008]
Notice of Request To Renew of an Approved Information Collection:
In-Home Food Safety Behaviors and Consumer Education: Annual
Observational Study
AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 and the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations, the Food Safety and
Inspection Service (FSIS) is announcing its intention to renew the
approved information collection regarding observational studies to
inform the development of food safety communication products and an
evaluation of public health education and communication activities. The
approval for this information collection will expire on June 30, 2020.
FSIS has reduced the total burden estimate for the renewal collection
by 833 hours because FSIS plans to conclude its research in two years,
after the renewal. The original burden estimate was for three years.
DATES: Submit comments on or before May 11, 2020.
ADDRESSES: FSIS invites interested persons to submit comments on this
Federal Register notice. Comments may be submitted by one of the
following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: This website provides
commenters the ability to type short comments directly into the comment
field on the web page or to attach a file for lengthier comments. Go to
http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions at that
site for submitting comments.
Mail, including CD-ROMs, etc.: Send to Docket Clerk, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, 1400
Independence Avenue SW, Mailstop 3758, Room 6065, Washington, DC 20250-
3700.
Hand- or courier-delivered submittals: Deliver to 1400
Independence Avenue SW, Room 6065, Washington, DC 20250-3700.
Instructions: All items submitted by mail or electronic mail must
include the Agency name and docket number FSIS-2020-0008. Comments
received in response to this docket will be made available for public
inspection and posted without change, including any personal
information, to http://www.regulations.gov.
Docket: For access to background documents or comments received,
call (202)720-5627 to schedule a time to visit the FSIS Docket Room at
1400 Independence Avenue SW, Room 6065, Washington, DC 20250-3700.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gina Kouba, Office of Policy and
Program Development, Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA, 1400
Independence Avenue SW, Room 6065, South Building, Washington, DC
20250-3700; (202) 720-5627.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: In-Home Food Safety Behaviors and Consumer Education: Annual
Observational Study.
OMB Number: 0583-0169.
Expiration Date of Approval: 6/30/2020.
Type of Request: Renewal of an approved information collection.
Abstract: FSIS has been delegated the authority to exercise the
functions of the Secretary (7 CFR 2.18 and 2.53), as specified in the
Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) (21 U.S.C. 601, et seq.), and the
Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) (21 U.S.C. 451, et seq.). These
statutes mandate that FSIS protect the public by verifying that meat
and poultry products are safe, wholesome, unadulterated, and properly
labeled and packaged.
FSIS is announcing its intention to renew the approved information
collection regarding observational studies to inform the development of
food safety communication products and an evaluation of public health
education and communication activities. The approval for this
information collection will expire on June 30, 2020. FSIS has reduced
the total burden estimate for the renewal collection by 833 hours
because FSIS plans to conclude its research in two years, after the
renewal. The original burden estimate was for three years.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection
Service's Office of Public Affairs and Consumer Education (USDA, FSIS,
OPACE) ensures that all segments of the farm-to-table chain receive
valuable food safety information. The consumer education programs
developed by OPACE's Food Safety Education Staff inform the public on
how to safely handle, prepare, and store meat, poultry, and processed
egg products to minimize incidence of foodborne illness.
OPACE strives to continuously increase consumer awareness of
recommended food safety practices with the intent to improve food-
handling behaviors at home. OPACE shares its messages through The Food
Safe Families campaign (a cooperative effort of USDA, Food and Drug
Administration, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention); other
outreach; social media; Ask USDA and the Meat and Poultry Hotline (an
interactive knowledge management system consumers can use to get
answers from USDA employees via phone, chat, email and a frequently
asked question database); the FSIS website; publications; and events.
These messages are focused on the four core food safety behaviors:
Clean, separate, cook, and chill.
To test new consumer messaging and tailor existing messaging, FSIS
can help ensure that it is effectively communicating with the public
and working to improve consumer food safety practices. Continuing this
behavioral research will provide insight into the effect FSIS consumer
outreach campaigns have on consumers' food safety behaviors. The
results of this research will be used to enhance messaging and
accompanying materials to improve their food safety behavior.
Additionally, this research will provide useful information for
tracking progress toward the goals outlined in the FSIS Fiscal Years
2017-2021 Strategic Plan.\1\
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\1\ The FSIS Fiscal Years 2017-2021 Strategic Plan is available
on the FSIS website at: https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/317d14d6-1759-448e-941a-de3cbff289e5/Strategic-Plan-2017-2021.pdf?MOD=AJPERES.
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To inform the development of food safety communication products and
to evaluate public health education and communication activities, FSIS
is requesting approval for a renewal of an information collection to
conduct observational studies using an experimental design. Previous
research suggests that self-reported data (e.g., surveys) on consumers'
food safety practices are unreliable, thus observational studies are a
preferred approach for collecting information on consumers' actual food
safety practices. These observational studies will help FSIS assess
adherence to the four recommended food safety behaviors of clean,
separate, cook, and chill, and to determine whether food safety
messaging focused on those behaviors affects consumer food safety
handling behaviors and whether consumers introduce cross-contamination
during food preparation. For this 2-year study, FSIS plans to conduct
separate observational studies in Fiscal Year 2020 and Fiscal Year 2021
and to focus on a different behavior, food and food preparation task,
and food safety communication product each year. The
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2020 study will examine participants' use of a food thermometer to
determine if ground beef burgers are cooked to the proper temperature
when grilling. The 2021 study will examine participants' food safety
practices when preparing kabobs and serving them buffet style.
FSIS has contracted with RTI International to conduct the
observational studies. The observational studies will be conducted in
North Carolina State University's test kitchen. Participants will be
recruited using non-probability convenience sampling, such as through
social media and posting signs in Women, Infant, and Children (WIC)
clinics, and recruited participants will reflect the demographics of
the U.S. population with regard to race, ethnicity, age, education,
income, and household size. Using a fully randomized experimental
design, participants will be assigned to a treatment or control group.
Treatment participants will receive food safety messaging prior to the
study, while control participants will receive messaging unrelated to
food safety. Participants will be given ingredients and asked to
prepare a meal consisting of ready-to-eat products such as salad and
raw meat or poultry products. Prior to meal preparation, the raw meat
or poultry product will be inoculated with a harmless tracer bacterium
to assess the extent of cross-contamination in the kitchen and with the
ready-to-eat product. Researchers will video-record meal preparation.
Trained researchers will subsequently view the videos and use a coding
rubric to assess adherence to recommended practices and notational
analysis to assess recorded actions and their frequency.
Following food preparation, trained surface sample collectors will
take surface swab samples from multiple sites within the test kitchen.
The swabs will be plated at a laboratory to determine presence of the
tracer bacterium and concentration of the tracer if any is present. The
presence of this tracer will indicate that cross-contamination occurred
during food preparation. The level of cross-contamination will be
compared across the sampling sites to determine the highest risk areas.
Kitchen surfaces, appliances, and other potentially contaminated sites
will be cleaned and sanitized after each participant in order to ensure
that any bacterial samples collected were from the participant's
behaviors.
Participants will be asked to complete an interview after the
observation to collect additional information on their experiences in
the test kitchen and their attitudes about food safety.
Statistical analysis will be conducted comparing the differences in
handling behavior scores between the treatment and control groups for
the four food handling behaviors. A comparative analysis will also be
conducted on the samples collected from the designated kitchen sites
and food samples to determine whether levels of cross-contamination
differed between the two groups, as well as to identify the kitchen
sites with the highest levels of contamination. This information will
help to determine whether the food safety communication products tested
in the experimental study affect consumer food handling behavior and
thus help OPACE refine existing materials or inform the development of
new food safety communication products. Improving consumer food safety
practices in the home may help to minimize incidence of foodborne
illness.
Estimate of Burden: Each year of the 2-year study, it is expected
that 833 individuals will complete the web-based screener and it is
assumed that 625 will be eligible and subsequently contacted by phone
to schedule an appointment for the observation study. Of these, it is
assumed that 500 will agree to take part in the study and schedule an
appointment, and of these, it is assumed that 400 will show up and
complete the observation study and interview. Each web-screening is
expected to take 8 minutes (0.133 hour) and each phone call to schedule
an appointment is expected to take 7 minutes (0.116 hour). Taking part
in the observation study appointment will take a total of 120 minutes
(2 hours): 15 minutes (0.25 hours) to obtain informed consent and
provide exposure to the messaging, 90 minutes (1.5 hours) for the meal
preparation/observation, and 15 minutes (0.25 hours) for the post-
observation interview. For each iteration of the study, the estimated
annual reporting burden is 983.289 hours, which is the sum of the
burden estimates for each component of the study (including the burden
for consumers who initially completed the web-based survey but do not
agree to participate or do not show up for the observation study). For
a 2-year study the estimated total number of individuals to be screened
is 1,666 (833 each year) and the estimated total number of individuals
to complete the observation study is 800 (400 each year). The estimated
total burden for the 2-year study is 1,966.578 hours (983.289 *2).
Estimated Annual Reporting Burden for Each Iteration of the Observational Study
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Estimated Annual
Study component number of frequency per Total annual Hours per Total hours
respondents response responses Response
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Web-based screening question- 833 1 833 0.133 (8 min.)... 110.789
naire.
Appointment phone script, 625 1 625 0.116 (7 min.)... 72.5
confirmation email, reminder
phone script.
Consent Form and Messaging... 400 1 400 0.25 (15 min.)... 100.0
Food Preparation Task/Observa- 400 1 400 1.5 (90 min.).... 600.0
tion.
Post-observation interview... 400 1 400 0.25 (15 min.)... 100.0
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Total.................... .............. .............. .............. ................. 983.289
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Respondents: Consumers.
Estimated No. of Respondents: 1,666.
Estimated No. of Annual Responses per Respondent: 1.
Estimated Total Burden on Respondents: 1,966.578 hours.
Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of FSIS's
functions, including whether the information will have practical
utility; (b) the accuracy of FSIS's
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estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information,
including the validity of the method and assumptions used; (c) ways to
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of
information, including through the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques,
or other forms of information technology. Comments may be sent to both
FSIS, at the addresses provided above, and the Desk Officer for
Agriculture, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of
Management and Budget (OMB), Washington, DC 20253.
Responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the
request for OMB approval. All comments will also become a matter of
public record.
Additional Public Notification
Public awareness of all segments of rulemaking and policy
development is important. Consequently, FSIS will announce this Federal
Register publication on-line through the FSIS web page located at:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/federal-register.
FSIS will also announce and provide a link to this Federal Register
publication through the FSIS Constituent Update, which is used to
provide information regarding FSIS policies, procedures, regulations,
Federal Register notices, FSIS public meetings, and other types of
information that could affect or would be of interest to our
constituents and stakeholders. The Constituent Update is available on
the FSIS web page. Through the web page, FSIS can provide information
to a much broader, more diverse audience. In addition, FSIS offers an
email subscription service which provides automatic and customized
access to selected food safety news and information. This service is
available at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/subscribe. Options range from
recalls to export information, regulations, directives, and notices.
Customers can add or delete subscriptions themselves and have the
option to password protect their accounts.
USDA Non-Discrimination Statement
No agency, officer, or employee of the USDA shall, on the grounds
of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual
orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status,
income derived from a public assistance program, or political beliefs,
exclude from participation in, deny the benefits of, or subject to
discrimination any person in the United States under any program or
activity conducted by the USDA.
How To File a Complaint of Discrimination
To file a complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program
Discrimination Complaint Form, which may be accessed online at http://www.ocio.usda.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2012/Complain_combined_6_8_12.pdf, or write a letter signed by you or your
authorized representative.
Send your completed complaint form or letter to USDA by mail, fax,
or email:
Mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Director, Office of
Adjudication, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410,
Fax: (202) 690-7442, Email: [email protected].
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for
communication (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.), should contact
USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).
Paul Kiecker,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2020-05076 Filed 3-11-20; 8:45 am]
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