Strengthening food control in a multi‐cultural society: Abu Dhabi food safety training initiatives

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on a number of initiatives currently being taken by the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority to improve food safety across the food chain. It focuses on the piloting of a new photographic food safety examination for food handlers designed to meet the needs of the multi‐cultural workforce. It is the fourth paper in a themed issue of Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes presenting international food safety management challenges and solutions. Design/methodology/approach – The piloting of the photographic examination involved 121 candidates who undertook the examination in January 2011. The results were compared with the cumulative data from the previous three years ( n =40,862) with additional analysis of the performance of each question. Findings – The results of the pilot suggest that replacing the written multiple choice examination paper with a photograph‐based alternative, increased the pass rate by almost 20 per cent, whilst retaining the overall level of difficulty of the examination. Practical implications – The paper will be of value to practitioners, trainers, education specialists, policy makers and other stakeholders involved in the food safety training initiatives. Originality/value – This is a unique study providing a mechanism for food handlers with low levels of literacy to become “qualified” to international standards.