Job burnout is associated with poorer hand-washing behaviors among restaurant kitchen chefs: evidence from Jiangsu Province, China.

Inadequate hand-washing among chefs is a major contributor to outbreaks of foodborne illnesses originating in restaurants. Previous studies have found that mental health influences hygiene behaviors among food handlers, who have a high rate of job burnout. However, it is still unclear whether job burnout leads to restaurant kitchen chefs' poor hand washing behaviors (HWBs). In this study, we interviewed 453 restaurant kitchen chefs in Jiangsu Province, China regarding job burnout and HWBs during the summer (July-August) of 2020. The aims were to investigate job burnout (an individual internal motivation factor), identify determinants of job burnout, and examine the association between job burnout and HWBs. Variance analysis, post hoc multiple comparisons, linear regression models, and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the response data. This study revealed that chef age and the scale of the restaurant were significantly and negatively associated with reduced professional efficacy. Combined cuisine and pastry chefs had a more positive perception of their own professional efficacy than the other kitchen chefs, whereas the incidence of exhaustion was significantly higher in pastry chefs than in cuisine chefs and kitchen hands. Reduced professional efficacy was significantly and negatively associated with HWBs for all chefs. To improve the level of hand hygiene among chefs, measures should be taken to enhance chefs' professional efficacy. Furthermore, close attention should be paid to chefs in small-scale restaurants, younger chefs, cuisine chefs, pastry chefs, and kitchen hands.

Promoting healthy cooking patterns in China: Analysis of consumer clusters and the evolution of cooking pattern trends.

Cooking methods can change the composition of foods and have important effects on human health. The Chinese people have developed many distinct and unique cooking methods. However, the daily cooking patterns of Chinese people and the characteristics and evolution of trends in cooking patterns commonly used by Chinese consumers remain unclear. The objective of this study was to identify the major cooking patterns and discuss their effects on human health, as well as to identify the cooking pattern consumer clusters and the evolution of trends in Chinese consumer cooking patterns. From March to June 2021, this study interviewed 4,710 residents in Eastern China regarding the consumption frequency of each cooking method when food is prepared at home or when eating out. Exploratory factor analysis, K-Means cluster analysis, Chi-square test, pairwise comparisons of multiple sample rates, and multivariate linear regression were used to identify the cooking patterns and cooking pattern consumer clusters, to assess differences in consumption preferences between consumer clusters, and to examine the relationship between demographic characteristic variables and different cooking patterns. Results revealed three major cooking patterns, namely traditional Chinese (cooking methods with native Chinese characteristics), bland, and high-temperature cooking patterns, as well as seven cooking pattern consumer clusters and their demographic characteristics in the Eastern Chinese population. With increases in age, education level, and income, consumers tended to choose the healthy "Bland" cooking pattern. Further, there was a higher proportion of people aged 36-65 years in the C3 cluster, which is characterized by the "Bland" cooking pattern. However, participants who were male and younger made fewer healthy choices in their cooking patterns. Specifically, a higher proportion of participants aged 21-35 years were found in the C5 cluster, which is characterized by the unhealthy "High-temperature" cooking pattern. Therefore, culinary health education should focus on individuals who are male and young. Specifically, the shift in cooking patterns among people aged 21-35 years should receive special attention.