Abstract
Increase in food borne infection has been linked with the lack of knowledge of food borne infection (FBI) and poor food safety practice (FSP) of food handlers. This is a major determinant of the kind of patronage received by local restaurants and fast food restaurants. This study was carried out to assess the knowledge of FBI and FSP of local food handlers in Ijebu-Ode Local Government Area of Ogun State. Four hundred and seventy three local food handlers (snacks and cooked food handlers) were recruited for the study. Interviewer’s administered questionnaire was used to gather information on knowledge and practice and a score index was then created. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 15. Frequencies, percentages, Chi square and correlations were done. The results revealed that majority (66.4%) of the respondents were female and 17.0% food handlers had no formal education. Majority (84.5%) of the respondents earned below N30,000. About 41.6% food handlers had poor knowledge FBI. Only 7.6% respondents had adequate knowledge. Also, 31.5% respondents had poor FSP. Educational qualification of respondents had a significant relationship with their knowledge of FBI (P=0.001) and it also significantly affected their FSP (P=0.0011). Furthermore, monthly income of respondents did not affect the practice of FSP (P=0.216) and the type of outlet of respondents had no significant effect on FSP (P=0.654). Knowledge of FBI and FSP of food handlers have a poor correlation coefficient (r<0.24). The knowledge of FBI among food handlers is adequate, but this does not translate into practice. Key words: Food vendors, food borne infection, food safety practices, knowledge score, disease outbreak, hygiene, micro-organism.
Highlights
Food borne infections (FBI) are infections caused by the ingestion of food containing pathogenic microorganisms which multiplies within the gastrointestinal tract, producing widespread inflammation and is a significant
This study is cross sectional and descriptive in design and it was carried out in 8 out of the 11 wards in Ijebu-Ode Local Government Area where 473 food handlers were randomly selected for this study
Kasturwar and Shafee (2011) reported that 62.7% of food handlers assessed in a Rural Private Medical College in India were males
Summary
Food borne infections (FBI) are infections caused by the ingestion of food containing pathogenic microorganisms which multiplies within the gastrointestinal tract, producing widespread inflammation and is a significantFBI is usually characterized by diarrhea (which may be sometimes bloody) and vomiting. The World Health Organization (2007) estimated up to 1.5 billion episodes of diarrhoea and more than three million deaths occur in children every year as a result of food and water contamination. It has been reported that an estimated 47.8 million, 2 million and 750,000 people become ill as a result of consumption of food containing pathogens or disease causing substances in the United States, United Kingdom and France, respectively while 5.4 million cases of foodborne illness was estimated to occur yearly in Australia, causing 18,000 hospitalizations, 120 deaths, keeping 21 million people away from work, 1.2 million people receiving medical consultations and 300,000 people receiving antibiotics prescriptions (Ifenkwe, 2012; Akintaro, 2012)
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