Literature Review on Food Safety Challenges in Fast-Casual Restaurants

This literature review examines food safety issues within fast-casual restaurants, focusing on how these issues impact customer engagement, revenue, and overall sustainability. The review synthesizes findings from multiple peer-reviewed journal articles, primarily focusing on research conducted in the United States. The studies analyzed investigate various aspects, including the impact of working environments on staff behavior, the significance of quality control, and the influence of consumer perceptions on food safety concerns. The review highlights the common hypothesis that poor food handling practices and inadequate infrastructure lead to foodborne illnesses and subsequent declines in customer satisfaction and revenue. The findings suggest that creating a positive work environment, recruiting knowledgeable staff, and implementing robust quality control measures are crucial for mitigating food safety risks and improving business outcomes. The review also provides a breakdown of the methodologies used in the studies, from surveys and literature reviews to experimental research and consumer group discussions, providing a well-rounded perspective of the subject matter.

Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

Literature review:
The purpose of the literature review is to evaluate the food safety issues identified in first
casual restaurants.
Question 1:
Although there are many problems are faced by restaurants, the majority of the articles
highlighted issues of food safety issue of fast-casual restaurants that affected the revenue of the
organization and customer engagement with the organization (Roseman et al. 2017, Guchait,
Neal & Simons 2016, Manning, 2018, Thaivalappil et al. 2016, Soon & Saguy 2017, Omari&
Frempong 2016,Pruitt & Holcomb 2017,Manning & Soon 2016). This problem is worth
studying because in the current market business, fast causal restaurants chain such as Chipotle
Mexican Grill is experiencing the declined revenue. The prime reason behind it is that in last few
years, due to lack of proper handling, a considerate number of individuals become affected by
the foodborne disease.
Question 2:
Majority of the articles conducted research on the fast food restaurants situated in United
States where authors conducted research for gaining the understanding of the food safety issues
for the popular USA based fast food for baby boomers or young adults (Roseman et al. 2017,
Guchait, Neal, & Simons 2016, Manning, 2018 , Thaivalappil et al. 2016, Soon & Saguy 2017,
Omari& Frempong 2016,Pruitt & Holcomb 2017,Manning & Soon 2016). However, Wu et al.
(2016) , only focused on the Chinese restaurant in the United States to gain an understanding of
food safety issues.

Question 3:
The common hypothesis of each of the articles is that unhygienic food handling of the
restaurant staffs due to lack of proper infrastructure for quality control of food give rise to the
food safety issues which further reduce customer engagement, revenue, and sustainability (Wu et
al. 2016, Guchait, Neal, & Simons 2016, Manning, 2018 , Thaivalappil et al. 2016, Soon &
Saguy 2017, Omari& Frempong 2016,Pruitt & Holcomb 2017,Manning & Soon 2016).. On the
other hand, Roseman et al., (2017) and Harris et al. (2017) highlighted that climate of the
restaurant has a psychological impact on the restaurant staffs that give rise to food safety issues,
reducing the quality engagement of customers.
Question 4:
Roseman et al. (2017), Harris et al. (2017) collected data from a national chain of quick
service restaurants. Guchait, Neal, and Simons (2016), conducted a direct survey on restaurant’s
staffs to identify the psychological impact. Manning (2018) and Thaivalappil et al. (2016)
conducted a literature review to identify the factors which affected food safety. Soon and Saguy
(2017), conducted an experimental research to identify the issues regarding food safety and
quality. Omar and Frempong (2016), conducted a consumer-focused group discussion to
identify the food safety concerns of fast food consumers in urban Ghana. Pruitt and Holcomb
(2017), have collected data from the restaurants regarding the employee performance and
consumer’s feedback. Manning and Soon (2016), conducted a literature review on them to
highlight to identify the reason for food safety issues.

Question 5:
Roseman et al. (2017) and Guchait, Neal and Simons (2016), suggested that the working
environment plays a crucial role in handling food well. It was suggested that in a negative
environment staffs feel more demotivated which affected their wellbeing and mindset to serve
customers properly. On the other hand, these studies suggested that the positive and empowering
climate in the restaurants motivates restaurant staffs to engage in the work positively and assess
the quality of the food before serving it to the customers.
Rest of the studies suggested that due to a lack of appropriate quality control department
because of stringent policy in the fast food restaurants, the quality of the food decreased (Wu et
al. 2016, Guchait, Neal, & Simons 2016, Manning, 2018 , Thaivalappil et al. 2016, Soon &
Saguy 2017, Omari& Frempong 2016,Pruitt & Holcomb 2017,Manning & Soon 2016).
Especially for the restaurants which are beside the roadsides and have limited capital to
successfully conduct a quality control assessment before the given to the consumers. Male
populations are more likely to worry about food safety issues regarding the food served in fast
food restaurants. In most fast food restaurants, perishable foods are served to the consumers and
most of them can be spoiled or contaminated without proper storage and handling. Therefore, the
consumers, especially young adults and baby boomers with low immune systems experienced
foodborne illnesses that showed the symptoms like diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting.
Consequently, it lowered customer engagement, reparation of the organization and decrease
revenue. Besides, accumulated evidence also suggested that creating a positive environment for
staffs, recruiting efficient staffs with the knowledge of microbiology and food safety, advanced
equipment’s for measuring the contamination, proving fresh raw materials and semi-perishable

materials for food manufacturing and serving to customers can help to solve this issue regarding
the safety and assist to increase the revenue and customer engagements.
Question 6:
The strength of the study is that this study mostly conducted a literature review based on
the peer reviewed journals of last five years and the majority of the journals undertaken the
primary research where they either interpret the data of the staff's performance or direct
interaction with consumers to evaluate the functions. This would assist restaurants to gain an
understanding of the emotions of the customers regarding food safety issues. However, the
research has undertaken only the data collection of the safety issues and employee performance
rather than directly evaluating the organizational internal policy and funding behind the quality
control facilities of restaurants. Moreover, due to the diversity of the factors affecting food safety
that was explored in the study, the diversity of data reduces the accuracy of the result.
Question 7:
The practice implications of the study are that the successful accomplishment of the
literature review would help the organization to identify the issues regarding the food safety in
fast food or fast casual restaurants where the target populations are mostly young adults or baby
boomers with comparatively weak immune systems. Moreover, the successful accomplishment
of the study would help the organization administration board to gain an understanding of the
importance of the positive work environment and motivations for serving high-quality food to
customers and increase revenue. Furthermore, the successful accomplishment of the literature
review would help the organization to recruit efficient staffs to check the quality of the food, raw
materials of food, sterilization of the equipment and the foods before serving customers.

References:
Guchait, P., Neal, J. A., & Simons, T. (2016). Reducing food safety errors in the United States:
Leader behavioral integrity for food safety, error reporting, and error
management. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 59, 11-18.
Harris, K. J., Murphy, K. S., DiPietro, R. B., & Line, N. D. (2017). The antecedents and
outcomes of food safety motivators for restaurant workers: An expectancy
framework. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 63, 53-62.
Manning, L. (2018). The value of food safety culture to the hospitality industry. Worldwide
Hospitality and Tourism Themes, 7(1), 1.
Manning, L., & Soon, J. M. (2016). Food safety, food fraud, and food defense: a fast evolving
literature. Journal of food science, 81(4), R823-R834.
Omari, R., & Frempong, G. (2016). Food safety concerns of fast food consumers in urban
Ghana. Appetite, 98, 49-54.
Pruitt, J. R., & Holcomb, R. B. (2017). Impacts of Food Safety Recalls and Consumer
Information on Restaurant Performance. Food Distribution Research Society, 48(3), 16.
Roseman, M. G., Mathe-Soulek, K., & Krawczyk, M. (2017). The effect of psychological
empowerment climate on restaurant food safety, food quality, and financial
performance. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 16(2), 137-152.
Soon, J. M., & Saguy, I. S. (2017). Crowdsourcing: A new conceptual view for food safety and
quality. Trends in food science & technology, 66, 63-72.

Thaivalappil, A., Waddell, L., Greig, J., Meldrum, R., & Young, I. (2018). A systematic review
and thematic synthesis of qualitative research studies on factors affecting safe food
handling at retail and food service. Food control, 89, 97-107.
Wu, K., Raab, C., Chang, W., & Krishen, A. (2016). Understanding Chinese tourists' food
consumption in the United States. Journal of Business Research, 69(10), 4706-4713.