Conhecimento dos manipuladores de alimentos sobre boas práticas nos restaurantes públicos populares do Estado do Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

The food handlers are the main contamination route for foods and can lead to food poisoning outbreaks. Thus the objective of the present study was to evaluate the level of knowledge of the food handlers working in popular public restaurants (PPR) in Rio de Janeiro/Brazil on good practices in food Handling, and relate this to their training, and their training to the hygienic-sanitary conditions of the PPR. This was an exploratory study, carried out between October/2007 and January/2008 in ten PPR. A questionnaire consisting of 17 closed and open questions, of which 8 concerned their knowledge about good handling practices, was applied to 103 food handlers. Statistical tests were applied to test for correlation between the various levels of knowledge of the handlers, their training in the PPR and the hygienic-sanitary conditions of the PPR. On average, the knowledge of the food handlers was considered to be regular (56.09%), although those working in PPR 3 and 10 showed poor levels of knowledge of, respectively, 48.3 and 49.1% of correct answers. None of the PPR showed good levels of knowledge concerning handling practices. There was positive correlation between the existence of training and the evaluation of the sanitary-hygienic conditions of the PPR, as well as the level of knowledge. It was concluded that the percentage of correct responses on good practices was regular, which reinforces the need to invest in the training of food handlers. Finding the best teaching methods for such training that not only meet the needs of the employees but also the requirements of the sanitary legislation, represents a considerable challenge.