Food safety knowledge and practice among food handlers in Yeka Subcity, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

Background: Food handlers can greatly contribute to the occurrence of food born diseases as a result of poor food handling practice that might emanate from poor knowledge about food safety. Food safety knowledge and practice has not been investigated in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This study aimed at assessing food safety knowledge and practice among food handlers working in public food establishments in Yeka Subcity, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods & Materials: A cross-sectional study was conducted among food handlers. Data was collected from randomly selected 384 food handlers using a structured questionnaire. Pearson correlation was used to determine association between knowledge and practice. Chi square test was used to assess association between sociodemographic characteristics, and knowledge and practice of food handling. Results: Most food handlers were aware of the critical role of general sanitary practice in the work place such as hand washing (99.5%), proper cleaning of utensils (87.2%) and keeping food in the refrigerator (85.9%). Although 73.7% and 58.1% of the food handlers knew that typhoid fever and bloody diarrhea can be transmitted by food, respectively, 81.8% and 84.4% did not know that Hepatitis A and tuberculosis can be transmitted by food, respectively. Out of 384 study participants, 97.6% reported that they wash their work area before start working. Majority (96.6%) of the food handlers wash their hand after using toilets. However, (25.7%) and (52.7%) worked when they have diarrhea and common cold, respectively. We found statistically positive correlation between knowledge and practice of food handlers (r = 0.30, p = 0.000). Knowledge of food safety was significantly related to age (p = 0.001), marital status (p = 0.000), education level (p = 0.000) and work experience (p = 0.002) of food handlers. Food safety practice was significantly associated with age (p = 0.000). Conclusion: Most food handlers lacked knowledge about the transmission some food borne disease and some had poor practice. Training should be given to food handlers to improve their knowledge and practice about safe food handling.