Knowledge, Attitude and Food Safety Practice among Food Handlers in Kaduna North Local Government Area, Kaduna State, Nigeria.

Abstract

Food safety practices remain poor in Sub-Saharan Africa despite the significant financial burden that outbreaks of food-borne illness have on individuals. Kaduna State recorded cases and mortalities from the most recent cholera outbreak due to food borne diseases caused by poor safety practices from food handlers. Therefore, this study examined knowledge, attitude and food safety practices among food handlers in Kaduna North Local Government Area, Kaduna State. A descriptive cross-sectional design was utilized in this study. The three-stage sampling technique was used to select two hundred and forty-six food handlers. Data was obtained using a 28- itemed validated interviewer-administered questionnaire. For the entire construct, the Cronbach alpha coefficient was 0.75. All statistical tests were conducted at p ≤ 0.05 level of significance. The result showed majority 219 (89%) of respondents had good level of knowledge, 151 (61.4%) had positive attitude and 157 (63.8%) had good food safety practices. There was a significant relationship between respondents’ level of knowledge of food safety practices and their attitude towards food safety practices (r=0.57; p=0.000). Additionally, there was a significant association between respondents’ knowledge of food safety practice and food safety practices (r=0.61; r2=0.372; p=0.00). Further analysis revealed a significant association between respondents’ attitude towards food safety practice and food safety practices (r=0.63; r2=0.402; p = 0.00). In conclusion, findings from this study showed that most of the respondents had good level of knowledge, positive attitude and good food safety practices. Continuous training should be recommended on proper food safety practices by environmental health officers in order to improve their food safety practices. Keywords: Attitudes, Food handlers, Food safety practices, Knowledge.