Knowledge of Food Safety Rules among Women and Their Perception and Attitude Towards Their Application in the Celebration Halls in Tripoli, Libya

Abstract

The government through its respective institutions and centers is responsible for protecting the consumers by assuring the safety of food supplies until consumption. The study sought to assess the knowledge of food safety, discover the incidence of food poisoning, evaluate the perception of meals and waitresses, and know the attitude towards the meals served among a sample of women who attended celebrations in the celebration halls in Tripoli city, Libya. A total of 410 women were selected randomly and data were collected through face-to-face interviews using questionnaire forms. A chi-square test was used for independence. The majority of the participants (41.7%) were between the age of 18 and 25 years. The results showed that the majority of the participants (95.4%) had a good level of food safety knowledge. Also, the results showed a significant association between age and occupation of the participants and food safety knowledge scores (P<0.05). Twenty-four percent of the participants reported that they were exposed to food poisoning after eating dinner in the celebration halls. Only 15% of women always washed their hands before eating the meal in the celebration halls. A significant association was found between hand washing practice and food poisoning exposure (p <0.05). Only 22.4% of participants agreed that the food served inside the celebration hall was safe. It is very clear that the meals served at celebration halls need to be regulated by the repective authorities. In addition, the respective public authorities should be working hard to eliminate the negative perception of individuals about food safety practices in celebration halls.