Abstract
Though several studies have evaluated the association between food safety training and behavior, little has investigated different training components in association with food handlers' performance. Foodservice workers (N = 211) with at least two years' experience were willing to participate and were selected from major foodservice establishments in Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria, and completed a survey to evaluate the association between training, training area, duration, and refresher training and food safety knowledge and practices. We observed an association between training and knowledge (P = 0.000) as well as practices (P = 0.05) of food safety while different training areas contributed similarly to food handlers' knowledge (P = 0.17) and practices (P = 0.08). However, there was a significant decline in knowledge (P = 0.01) and practices (P = 0.001) with an increase in training duration. Furthermore, foodservice employees with refresher training demonstrated significantly higher knowledge (P = 0.000) and practice (P = 0.003) levels than those without, being about 45 and 14 times more likely to, respectively, improve their knowledge (OR = 45; 95% CI: 3.47–584.34) and practice (OR = 13.5; 95% CI: 2.01–90.69). Researchers should always consider varying training components before making assertions regarding effectiveness of training on foodservice workers' behaviour.
Highlights
The incidence of food-borne diseases has been on the increase, often associated with outbreaks, and threatens global public health security and raises international concern [1]
The respondents’ sociodemographic characteristics, such as age, gender, food safety training, area of training, training duration, and refresher training received, were documented during the study. They were classified based on age groups 40 years; education status: no formal education, primary education, and postprimary education; training: trained or untrained; area of training: good practices in food industry (GPFI) involving temperature monitoring, requirements for safe food, and so forth, work safety and hygiene (WSH) involving environmental hygiene, personal hygiene, requirements for protective wears, and so forth, or both; duration of training: short (6 weeks); and refresher training received within the last one year: yes or none
Out of the trained food handlers, 25% trained in good practices in food industry; 41.7% trained in work safety and hygiene while 33.3% had their training in both areas
Summary
The incidence of food-borne diseases has been on the increase, often associated with outbreaks, and threatens global public health security and raises international concern [1]. The World Health Organization reported that 1.8 million deaths in 2005 alone resulted from diarrheal diseases, most of which were attributed to the ingestion of contaminated food and drinking water [2]. Previous reports [4, 5] indicated that poor food handling practices are a leading cause of food-borne diseases. Such improper practices have been well documented [6] and typically include cross contamination of raw and cooked food, inadequate cooking, and storage at inappropriate temperatures. Adequate training and transfer of such training to behaviour in particular can help limit such improper food handling practices and reduce the resulting effects of contamination on health and economy
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