FOOD SAFETY IN SCHOOL DAILY MEALS: A PRELIMINARY SURVEY ON UNDERSTANDING LEVEL AMONG PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS OF KAFA INTEGRASI AL-HIJRAH IN KAJANG, SELANGOR

Abstract

Food hygiene often referred to as food safety, is described as handling, preparing, and storing food or beverages in a way that minimizes the risk of foodborne illness. This principle, however, should be grasped and practiced by primary school students in their daily food consumption, particularly at school. The objective of this study is to determine the understanding level of food safety in school daily meals among primary school students to assuring the prevention of foodborne illness. Standard six students of KAFA Integrasi al-Hijrah in Kajang, Selangor were involved as respondents (n=82). The online version of the questionnaire and IBM SPSS Statistics computer software have been used as instruments in data collecting and data analysis respectively. The descriptive statistical analysis is in line with the Friedman test, which indicates that no significant difference between items with χ2(5) = 6.486, ρ = 0.262. This study suggests that primary school students of KAFA Integrasi al-Hijrah in Kajang, Selangor show a moderate understanding of food safety. The larger sample size involving multi-ethnic and cross-religion primary school students as a group sample is recommended for future studies.