Assessment of Food Safety Knowledge, Attitude, Self-Reported Practices, and Microbiological Hand Hygiene of Food Handlers

Hui Lee,Hishamuddin Abdul Halim,Kwai Thong,Lay Chai

doi:10.3390/ijerph14010055

Hui Lee, Hishamuddin Abdul Halim + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14010055

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Abstract

Institutional foodborne illness outbreaks continue to hit the headlines in the country, indicating the failure of food handlers to adhere to safe practices during food preparation. Thus, this study aimed to compare the knowledge, attitude, and self-reported practices (KAP) of food safety assessment and microbiological assessment of food handlers’ hands as an indicator of hygiene practices in food premises. This study involved 85 food handlers working in a university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The food safety KAP among food handlers (n = 67) was assessed using a questionnaire; while the hand swabs (n = 85) were tested for the total aerobic count, coliforms, and Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, Vibrio cholerae and Vibrio parahaemolyticus. The food handlers had moderate levels of food safety knowledge (61.7%) with good attitude (51.9/60) and self-reported practices (53.2/60). It is noteworthy that the good self-reported practices were not reflected in the microbiological assessment of food handlers’ hands, in which 65% of the food handlers examined had a total aerobic count ≥20 CFU/cm2 and Salmonella was detected on 48% of the food handlers’ hands. In conclusion, the suggestion of this study was that the food handlers had adequate food safety knowledge, but perceived knowledge failed to be translated into practices at work.

Highlights

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that there approximately 2 million fatal cases of food poisoning occur every year globally [1], especially in developing countries
Out of 67 food handlers involved in this study, a quarter (n = 17, 25.4%) of the food handlers had not attended the safe food handling course, which is compulsory under the Malaysian Food Act 1983; and most of these untrained food handlers were not vaccinated for typhoid fever either (Table 1)
The food handlers had a moderate level of food safety knowledge with a good attitude, and self-reported practices, the poor performance in the hand hygiene assessment indicated a failure in practising safe food handling in their job

Summary

Introduction

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that there approximately 2 million fatal cases of food poisoning occur every year globally [1], especially in developing countries. This scenario could be due to the poor state of food safety and general hygiene in those countries. 49.79 cases of food poisoning per 100,000 population [2]. More than 50% of the total food poisoning cases were attributed to improper food handling by food handlers [3]. The outbreaks in academic institutions contributed 43% of the total foodborne poisoning incidents in Malaysia [4].

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