The relationship between employee sanitation knowledge and meat department profitability was studied using sanitation questionnaire administered to meat department personnel of a major retail supermarket chain. The results were compared to the known profitability data of the individual stores. Scores rose as experience level increased. Employees with some knowledge of sanitation generally had a better attitude toward and motivation for adhering to correct sanitation procedures. No correlation was found between a manager's and subordinate's questionnaire score, meaning that knowledgeable managers were not passing their understanding of sanitation to subordinates. By combining profitability data with questionnaire results, it was shown that when asked to categorize their store by the degree in which correct sanitation procedures were followed, 89.1% of the employees of category 'A' stores responded with a ranking of 'Always' or 'Majority of the Time'. This percentage decreased to 87.6 % in category B stores and 84.7% in category C stores, supporting the contention that the use of proper sanitation procedures does increase profits. Considering the supervisory role of managers, this suggests a positive link between the level of manager sanitation knowledge and department profits.