Abstract
This study examines food safety knowledge and practices of food service staff in Al Madinah hospitals, Saudi Arabia. A total of 163 food service staff participated voluntarily from 10 hospitals across the city of Al Madinah. The participants completed a questionnaire composed of three parts: General characteristics, food safety knowledge, and food safety practices. Results showed that respondents generally had good food safety knowledge with the highest pass rate of 77.9% for knowledge of cross contamination followed by 52.8% for knowledge of food poisoning, and 49.7% of knowledge of food storage. Food safety practices were also strongly observed in the hospitals with a pass rate of 92.6%. Food safety knowledge among the hospital food service staff varied with the level of education, age, and having received food hygiene/safety practices, training while food safety practices had a significant association with the level of education and food hygiene/safety practices training of the staff. Spearman rho coefficient results showed that there was a significant linear relationship between food safety practice and food safety knowledge, and that food safety knowledge significantly predicts food safety practices. This research revealed the importance of education and consistent training of food service staff in improving knowledge and thereby better and safe food handling practices, which could contribute to apply food safety in the hospitals.
Highlights
There is an inextricable link between nutrition, safety of food, and security of food [1]
The results indicate that the food service staff in Al Madinah Hospitals understands the concept of cross contamination and how it can be caused, yet there is scope to build their knowledge about its prevention
This study shows that 40.5% of respondents having food safety knowledge were within 20–30 years of age compared to older age categories
Summary
There is an inextricable link between nutrition, safety of food, and security of food [1]. Unsafe food triggers a vicious food-based cycle of both foodborne diseases, especially affecting vulnerable consumers such as elderly, sick, young children, and infants. There has been a sharp increase in concern for the safety of food among the wealthy members of various societies. The realistic tragedy of foodborne illnesses occurs within the developing world [2]. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) update in 2017, each year about 50 million people succumb to food-based ailments, leading to the death of an estimated 3,000 people.
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