Current situation of quantitative grade management on food safety in catering industries in Beijing

Objective To examine the implementation effect of quantitative grade management on food safety in catering industries in Beijing and to identify the critical steps in food safety for different types of catering units for effective supervision on food safety.Methods All catering units(15 391 and 19 138)in Beijing were surveyed in 2009 and 2010.Rank sum test and relative to an identified distribution were used to compare the difference in quantitative grade distribution among different catering groups and logistic regression was used to analyze the influence factors.Results The proportion of totally qualified and basically qualified regulation in food safety among the catering units was 42.9%and 51.2%in 2010, respectively, without significant differences compared to those in 2009(P>0.05).The larger catering units had higher scores in the quantitative grade management(P<0.001).The level of quantitative grade management of school cafeterias was significantly higher than that of other type canteens(P<0.001).The results of multivariate logistic regression revealed that seven indexes affected the grade of quantitative management of the restaurants, including refrigerated storage, lavatory and ventilation, retention samples, with the odds ratios of 1.471-2.284.Seven indexes affected the grade of the canteens, including cross contamination, internal and external environment, business area, with the odds ratios of 1.461-2.812.There were four indexes(food safety regulation, hand washing facilities, food preservation requirements, table requirements)affecting the grade for both restaurants and canteens.Conclusion The situation of food safety in catering industries in Beijing is good, the focuses of food safety supervision are different for different types of catering units.