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Although food safety training is important for the food services industry, there is limited information on the needs for hard-to-reach food service workers. The objectives of this paper are to - (1) identify food safety training issues facing hard-to-reach food service workers, and (2) analyze the opinions collected of participants in food safety focus groups. Data reported in this paper were collected using focus group meetings from selected counties in TN. Qualitative methodology was applied to data collected. Findings showed that food safety training should be offered on a continuous basis using materials that are easy to read, understand and implement. An effective food safety training program is needed to monitor employees to ensure compliance with established guidelines and procedures.

Eating out no longer is reserved for special occasions. Expenditures for eating out now account for 41 cents of every food dollar, up from 27 cents in 1960. Growth has been phenomenal. With growth, changes were inevitable --changes in the structure and organization of the industry, in food purchasing and ordering practices, in the mix of foods served, and in food marketing and distribution systems. _Such changes affect food producers, manufacturers, middlemen, and consumers. This report provides a framework for measuring changes occurring in the foodservice industry. It defines the industry and its many segments and describes a methodology for estimating the retail and purchase values of meals and snacks and the quantity of food moving through the industry on a market segment-by-segment basis.

Eating and drinking places have increased their dollar share of the total food market. They have a gross margin estimated at 2½ times that of food stores. Although gross margins for the two differ greatly because of the kinds of functions and services performed, individual operating expenses as a share of gross margin are similar. Labor, the largest expense, accounts for slightly over 40 percent of the gross margin of both type of businesses. Operating expenses as a proportion of sales tend to be lower for larger firms, indicating higher profit ratios., Reprinted from the Marketing and Transportation Situation August 1970