Abstract
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) amongst university students in Jordan and changes in food-related behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Correlation between food safety KAP scores and general characteristics of university students was also evaluated.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted where an Internet-based questionnaire was distributed through social media platforms. The sample consisted of 1,739 respondents from 29 Jordanian universities. The participants completed a 58-item questionnaire covering demographical characteristics and different food safety aspects which were namely “COVID-19 food-related attributes,” “food cooking and storage,” “personal hygiene.” “cross-contamination prevention/disinfection procedures.” and “restaurant hygiene.” Descriptive statistics, Chi square tests and binary logistic analysis were used to assess the data.Results: The sample consisted of 67.2% females with a mean age of 21.3 ± 1.8 years. The average overall score of the tested aspects was 14.1/34.0 which corresponds to 41.3% of the questions being answered correctly. The percentage of correct answers of “COVID-19 food-related attributes,” “food cooking and storage,” “cross-contamination prevention/disinfection procedures,” “personal hygiene” and “restaurant hygiene” was 56.8, 36.6, 28.4, 44.6. and 36.9%, respectively. A significant (P <0.05) association between respondents' food safety KAP scores and gender, marital status, university degree, employment status, self-rating of food safety knowledge, and the source of food safety information.Conclusion: University students in Jordan had insufficient KAP scores which is a concerning trend during the pandemic. Teaching fundamentals of food safety in the form of short courses/ lectures is recommended.
Highlights
Outbreaks associated with food pose a great threat to public health
A cross-sectional study was performed from March 2021 to April 2021 to assess food safety knowledge, attitudes, and practices amongst Jordan universities students during the COVID-19 pandemic
In Saudi Arabia, it was reported that 94.8% of the participants knew that COVID-19 spread could be via the transfer of respiratory droplets upon coughing or sneezing, and only a small number (14.9%) knew that infected people with no fever could transmit the virus to others [32]
Summary
Outbreaks associated with food pose a great threat to public health. As per the World Health Organization (WHO), on an annual basis, about 600 million cases and 420,000 deaths are associated with the consumption of contaminated food and water [1]. Foodborne outbreaks affect 48 million Americans, 4 million Canadians and 2.4 million Britons each year [2,3,4]. A recent food poisoning outbreak in Jordan (Ain Al-Basha region) associated with contaminated Shawerma resulted in 700 infections and two deaths. Measures commonly recommended to combat foodborne outbreaks include frequent/ correct technique of hand washing, appropriate cleansing of kitchen surfaces, storing food at suitable temperatures and the separation of raw and cooked food [6, 7]
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