Association of Food Premises Inspection and Disclosure Program with retail-acquired foodborne illness and operator noncompliance in Toronto.

In 2001, the city of Toronto was the only health unit in Canada to have implemented a multi-component disclosure system as part of its provincially mandated food safety program. To measure the impact on the ultimate goal of preventing foodborne illness, the authors of the study reported here assessed directly the association of Toronto Public Health's program with the specific incidence of retail-acquired foodborne illness by analyzing secondary data on reportable local enteric disease. In addition, the study indirectly measured prevention of retail-acquired foodborne illness by assessing existing data on regulatory compliance in Toronto food premises as an inherent performance indicator. Results of the statistical analysis show that although there has not been a significant difference in the overall incidence rate of retail foodborne illness (Chi-squared = 0.009, p = .93), certain key diseases, such as Campylobacter infection, have decreased significantly since the implementation of the disclosure program in Toronto. There has also been a significant trend in the reduction of operator noncompliance rates (Z = 32, p < .0001). Further analysis shows that the decrease in operator non-compliance is positively correlated with a decrease in retail foodborne illness (r = .73, p < .0001). These results suggest that the Food Premises Inspection and Disclosure Program is an effective intervention for reducing retail-acquired foodborne illness and decreasing operator noncompliance in the city of Toronto. Programs of this type may assist other local health units to achieve similar results.