Burnout and food safety: Understanding the role of job satisfaction and menu complexity in foodservice

•This study explored the food safety and factors contributing to the burnout of food industry employees.•Foodservice employees exhibit high levels of job motivation, satisfaction, and personal burnout.•In foodservice establishments with a more complex menu, employees exhibited higher burnout levels and food safety violations.•Exhaustion, job satisfaction, and motivation did not affect the number of food safety violations. This study measures job motivation, satisfaction, and burnout amongst foodservice employees, as well as the menu complexity in foodservice establishments. It verifies the relationship between these factors and food safety practices. We visited 20 foodservice establishments and interviewed 202 foodservice employees. Job motivation, satisfaction, and burnout were assessed using validated questionnaires. Menu complexity was evaluated by considering the number of meals prepared in different courses. Data relating to food safety violations were obtained using a food safety checklist. Our findings show that foodservice employees exhibit high levels of job motivation, job satisfaction, and personal burnout. In restaurants with more complex menus, instances of burnout as well as food safety violations are higher, and these have a negative impact on foodservice employees’ job motivation. Job satisfaction is positively affected by job motivation and negatively affected by burnout. Cognitive aspects of food safety, practical implications, and limitations of this study are discussed.