Kansas foodservice operators’ perception of food terrorism and the perceptional gap between importance and performance of food terrorism preventive measures were investigated in 2005. A mail questionnaire was developed based on the USDA document Biosecurity Checklist for School Foodservice Programs – Developing a Biosecurity Management Plan. The survey was sent to dietetics practitioners and foodservice operators in 151 acute care hospitals, 250 long-term care facilities, and 450 school foodservice operations in Kansas. Overall response rate was 24.3%. Cluster analysis was performed using 35 gap scores. T-tests and chi-square tests were performed to compare clusters and address research questions. Chemical use and storage was perceived as the most important practice to protect the operation and was the practices implemented most frequently. The largest discrepancy between importance and performance was found for practices related to communication. The results also revealed that foodservice operators who had smaller perceptional gaps between importance and practice were not only more concerned about food bioterrorism and food defense but also performed preventive measures more frequently. This research concluded that enhancing awareness of food terrorism risk and the effectiveness perception of implementing preventive measures in the operations can increase the level of preparedness against food bioterrorism.