Food Handling Procedures Research Articles

Human Campylobacteriosis: A Threat for Public Health

Global public health is seriously threatened by human campylobacteriosis, which is mostly caused with the bacteria Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli. An extensive summary of the disease's epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical presentations, diagnosis, therapy, and preventive measures is provided in this abstract. Poultry is a key reservoir for campylobacteriosis, one of the most common foodborne illnesses in the world. Via direct contact with sick animals or by consuming tainted food or water, the virus can spread. Warmer months see a rise in its incidence, which reflects varying seasons and environmental factors. When ingested, certain species of Campylobacter invade the gastrointestinal tract and produce symptoms that can range from a minor case of gastroenteritis to more serious consequences like Guillain-Barré syndrome. Young children and those with impaired immune systems are especially susceptible to its crippling consequences. Microbiological culture techniques are the mainstay of diagnosis, while molecular methods are becoming more and more popular because of their superior sensitivity and specificity. For proper therapy and to reduce the risk of complications, early identification is essential. In severe cases, treatment usually consists of supportive care and antibiotics, albeit there are hurdles due to the growth of antimicrobial resistance. Furthermore, preventive measures include appropriate food handling procedures, stringent cleanliness standards, and focused vaccination programs for livestock. Even with improvements in knowledge and treatment, human campylobacteriosis is still a serious public health issue. Because of its complicated epidemiology and the resilience of the Campylobacter species, it is imperative to use a variety of strategies to stop its spread. In summary, human campylobacteriosis poses a persistent risk to public health, requiring constant monitoring, investigation, and cross-sector cooperation. We can work to lessen its impact on society and protect the welfare of people everywhere by improving our comprehension of its mechanisms and putting in place efficient control measures.

Evaluation of Food Safety Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices among Street Food Vendors in the Klang Valley, Malaysia

Street food vendors are proliferating in Malaysian communities because the foods are reasonably priced and accessible since they are typically found in crowded areas. Due to informal observation of food handling practices, street food vendors have been noted as a common cause of foodborne diseases. Hence, the objectives of this study are 1) to determine the level of knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of food safety among street food vendors, 2) to examine the associations between the level of food safety practices and socioeconomic characteristics of street food vendors, and 3) to investigate the relationship between level of knowledge, attitude, and practices of food safety among street food vendors, A purposive sampling method was used, and 268 street food vendors were involved in this study. Several statistical analyses, including descriptive analysis, Chi-square analysis, and Pearson correlation analysis, were used to analyze the data. Out of 268 street food vendors, 219 (81.7%) had adequate knowledge, 239 (89.2%) had a favourable attitude, and 245 (91.4%) vendors implemented good practices in their food handling procedures. Street food vendors’ practices were associated with education level (p=0.069), type of stalls (p=0.030), monthly revenue (p=0.006), license (p=0.027), food safety training (p=0.001), and typhoid injection (p=0.005). The study revealed a positive correlation between the street food vendors’ knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) regarding food safety. This investigation suggests that the street food vendors demonstrated a commendable proficiency in food safety KAP. However, relevant authorities must prioritize rigorous enforcement and educational interventions. This proactive approach is essential to elevate food safety standards further and effectively address the potential risks of foodborne diseases.

Impact of food hygiene and safety training on knowledge, attitude, and practices of food hygiene and safety practices among food handlers in boarding schools of Embu County, Kenya

Background: The reduction of foodborne illnesses depends on the adoption and evaluation of effective food handling procedures in the food service industry. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the impact of food hygiene and safety training on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of food handlers in boarding schools in Embu County, Kenya. Methods: A longitudinal nonequivalent quasi-experimental survey design was utilized. A sample size of 198 study respondents was generated, Magnani formula was used. Multistage sampling was applied to select the study participants. STATA version 17 was employed for data analysis. Results: The knowledge score changed from 71% at baseline to 90% at the end line compared to the control arm which did not significantly change. Attitude score changed from 71% at baseline to 89% at endline compared to the control arm which did not significantly change (64% to 63%). This corresponds to a DID change of 19 percent increase in the attitudes scores (p<0.001). Lastly, practices score changed from 63% at baseline to 93% at endline. This corresponded to a 34 percentage point increase in the practice scores (p<0.001). Conclusions: Overall, Knowledge, attitude and practices were low at baseline than at the endline survey. Statistically, the study revealed that knowledge, attitude, and practices were associated with adherence to food safety and hygiene standards. The Government through the Ministries of health and education should consider training of food handlers on food safety and hygiene for improved knowledge, attitude, and practices.

Microbiological Evaluation of Different Types of Branded and Non-branded Ready-to-Eat Snacks Sold in Elementary Schools of District Peshawar, Pakistan

The lack of hygiene in the preparation and packing of ready-to-eat foods is fast becoming a serious public health concern, especially for school children. The intervention of different pathogenic microorganisms in these foods poses the risk of foodborne disease outbreaks. The current study was designed to assess bacterial contamination in different types of ready-to-eat (branded and non-branded) snacks purchased from September 2021 to December 2021 in various elementary schools of Peshawar, Pakistan. A total of 20 samples were collected and analyzed using the pour plate method for total plate count (TPC). Moreover, the multiple fermentation tube method was used for total coliforms (TC) and fecal coliforms (FC). Escherichia coli isolates were identified using E. coli O157:H7 latex test reagent kit Pro Lab, Canada. The results revealed contamination by TPC (6.67%), TC (40%), FC (33.33%), and E. coli (20%) in the samples. These values were higher than the permissible limits set by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Hence, it was concluded that there is a practice gap in food safety knowledge among ready-to-eat food vendors. The vendors are usually untrained and lack the knowledge of proper hygiene and food handling procedures. It is suggested here that the government should pay special attention towards improving public awareness regarding food safety and quality of ready-to-eat foods sold in Peshawar, Pakistan.

HACCP, quality, and food safety management in food and agricultural systems

The burden of foodborne diseases and their associated illness/death is a global concern. Hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) and food safety/quality management are employed to combat this problem. With the existing and emerging food safety/quality management concerns, this study aims to evaluate the traditional and modern/novel approach to improving HACCP, food safety, and quality management in food and agricultural systems. The modern innovations in food safety management were integrated into improving the traditional HACCP system, including its principles, applications, steps, plans, standards, etc., as well as food safety factors and management, for improved safety/quality in food, agricultural, and pharmaceutical industries. The study identified many factors responsible for food contamination, including chemical contaminants, such as allergens, histamine, cyanogenic glycosides, mycotoxins, toxic elements, etc., biological contaminants, such as Campylobacter, Brucella, viruses, Escherichia coli, prions, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, protozoa, parasitic pathogens, etc., and physical contaminants, such as bone, glass, metal, personal effects, plastic, stones, wood, etc. The results of this study present descriptive preliminary HACCP steps, HACCP principles, safe food handling procedures, ISO 22000, Water quality management, food labelling, etc., with recent modern developments and innovations to ensure food safety and quality management. The study also identified modern/novel technologies for HACCP and food safety management, including light technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), novel freezing (isochoric freezing), automation, and software for easy detection and control of contaminants. With all these understanding and development, the domestic, food, agricultural, and pharmaceutical industries can be well position to ensure safety and quality of products.

Relationships between knowledge, attitude, and practices of food safety and hygiene among Muslim food truck handlers in the Klang Valley, Malaysia

Nowadays, the food truck business is gaining more popularity in Malaysia. It is a new trend for the new generation of street food lovers as a food service of ready-to-eat and fast food. Essentially, the fundamental aspects of halal food production include cleanliness, free from contamination, and healthy food. The processes include every aspect of personal hygiene, dress, equipment, and premise where food is processed and prepared. However, the outbreak of foodborne diseases is the consequence if there is an element of carelessness during the processing and handling of food, which is supposed to be in a more hygienic and safer environment. Unsanitary food handling procedures, poor water quality, and an unhygienic working environment were among the causes of foodborne illness cases in Malaysia. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to investigate the relationships between knowledge, attitude, and practices of food safety and hygiene among Muslim food truck handlers. Using convenience sampling, the data were collected from 121 Muslim food truck handlers in the Klang Valley in Peninsular Malaysia. A quantitative research survey was conducted using a structured, self-administered questionnaire to obtain responses from Muslim food truck handlers. Statistical analyses including descriptive analysis, Pearson correlation analysis, and Chi-square analysis were employed in this study. The findings showed that decent knowledge, attitude, and practices of food safety and hygiene among Muslim food truck handlers are crucial. These attributes have significant relationships, indicating that a better understanding of Muslim food truck handlers in terms of their knowledge, attitude, and practices of food safety and hygiene is critical to the long-term sustainability of the food truck business industry.

Food Safety Practice and Associated Factors of Food Handlers Working in Food Industries in Bahir Dar City, Amhara Regional State, Northwest Ethiopia, 2021.

Food safety has emerged as one of the 10 threats to global health. Ethiopia is among the developing countries with many food industries in recent times. Poor food handling procedures, a lack of basic infrastructure, lack of potable water, lack of financial resources to invest in safer equipment, and lack of training for food handlers have all been reported. To assess food safety practices and associated factors among food handlers working in food industries in Bahir Dar city administrations. A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to February 2021 among 422 food handlers working in food industries in Bahir Dar city, Ethiopia. A random sampling technique was used to select food industries and study participants. The sample size was proportionately allocated to the selected food industries. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews and observation methods using interviewer-administered questionnaires and an observational checklist respectively. Data was entered into Epi-data v 3.1 and exported to SPSS v 23 for analysis. Bi-variable binary logistic regression was carried out to identify candidate variables at p-value <.2 and was entered into the final multivariable binary logistic regression model to control the effect of confounding. Variables with p-values of less than .05 were declared as statistically significant and an odds ratio of 95% CI was used to measure the strength of the association. Food safety practice among food handlers working in food industries was 47.6% (95% CI: 42.8, 52.5). Sex [AOR: 2.92 (CI: 1.77, 4.82)], monthly salary [AOR: 2.02 (CI: 1.18, 3.44)], health supervision [AOR: 3.43 (CI: 1.97, 5.97)], working unit [AOR: 2.44, (CI: 1.45, 4.13], food safety training [AOR: 6.16 (2.97, 12.77)], attitude [AOR: 3.55 (CI: 1.14, 11.05)] were factors significantly associated with food safety practice. Food safety practice among food handlers was low. Sex, working unit, monthly income, regulatory supervision, food safety training, and attitude toward food safety were factors associated with poor food safety practices. In-service training on good hygiene practices, good manufacturing practices, hazard analysis, critical control point, food safety management systems, and supportive supervision should be strengthened.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Food Handlers in a Hospital Kitchen- an Administrator’s Perspective

Hospital food hygiene plays an important role in patients’ health. Studies have proved that improper practices and lack of knowledge are major contributing factors of foodborne diseases. This study has been conducted with an aim to determine knowledge, attitude and practices of hospital kitchen staff towards safe food handling in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Pune. A cross sectional study was conducted in the central kitchen of the hospital.Data was collected from 20 food handlers (the entire staff working in the central kitchen) through a pre- validated questionnaire. Data was collected in May- June 2022. Most of food handlers had studied up till high school and their mean age group was 36.2 years. The average work experience of respondents was 16.5 years. The result of the questionnaire showed that majority of food handlers have a fair knowledge in safe food handling procedures, have a good attitude and practices. However, the results also strongly emphasize the need of more frequent food hygiene training of hospital food handlers. It also suggests that non-food handlers such as the nursing staff or kitchen supervisor should also be involved in the training. Some aspects of food handlers’ safety behaviour also needs to be emphasized.

An outbreak of salmonellosis among Filipinos in a private camp, Saudi Arabia

In October 1994, 19 Filipino professional staff of a large company in Damman city were hospitalized with acute febrile gastroenteritis. All ate three daily meals at the company cafeteria. A case-control investigation was begun to determine the cause of the outbreak. We searched the compound for any resident with a diarrhoeal illness. Both cases and controls were asked where and when foods were eaten during the three days before onset. Stool cultures were done for all patients and all 25 kitchen employees. Food cooking, handling and storage procedures were reviewed

Structural equation modelling of food safety knowledge, attitude and practices among consumers in Malaysia

Factors contributing to foodborne illnesses in Malaysia were identified as insanitary food handling procedures and lack of hygiene in food preparation area. Food safety at home is a critical point as consumers represent the final step in food preparation and prevention of foodborne diseases. This study aims to investigate the food safety knowledge, attitude and self-reported practices among consumers in Malaysia. An online survey was conducted, and data were analysed using descriptive statistics and exploratory factor analysis. A model linking food safety knowledge and attitude and their direct effects on practices were confirmed using structural equation modelling (SEM). The proposed model fulfilled the goodness of fit indices and is deemed acceptable. Respondents demonstrate good level of food safety knowledge and positive attitudes and self-reported practices. Food safety knowledge has a negative and insignificant relationship with food safety practices (β1 = -0.284, p>0.05) while attitude significantly affects food safety practices (β1 = 0.534, p<0.05). The findings clearly indicate that food safety knowledge does not directly affect food safety practices This is also the first study to provide new empirical findings on thermometer usage among consumers in Malaysia. This study establishes an important point of reference where consumers use visual appearances to determine if food is thoroughly cooked and practice washing raw chicken prior to cooking. Food safety practices at home play a critical role in protecting consumers in reducing risks of foodborne illnesses.

Accepted Safe Food‐Handling Procedures Minimizes Microbial Contamination of Home‐Prepared Blenderized Tube‐Feeding

The number of patients requiring home enteral nutrition (HEN) continues to increase. Many of these patients are interested in using blended food instead of, or in addition to, commercial enteral formula (CEF). Increased risk of food-borne illness is a concern of blenderized tube-feeding (BTF). This project assessed a standard procedure for minimizing bacterial growth of BTF prepared in the home setting. Fifty participants prepared BTF in their kitchens using a standard preparation procedure to minimize bacterial contamination. BTF was assessed for growth of aerobic microorganisms, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and coliforms at baseline, 24-hour, and 48-hour intervals after preparation for a total of 150 colony forming units (CFU) counts performed. No sample had zero aerobic microbial counts; yet no substantial increase in microbial counts was observed during the 48 hours. At baseline and 24 hours, 5/50 (10%) had a CFU count of >104 , and at 48 hours, 6/50 (12%) exceeded 104 CFUs. Out of 150 CFU counts, 2 (1.3%) were just over 105 CFU/mL. Samples exceeding 104 CFU/mL were likely contaminated by common endospore-forming bacteria found in soil or by bacteria in milk that was close to its expiration date. In this study, 88% of the samples met the US Food Code criteria for safe food consumption; 10.7% met guidelines for marginal safety by other standards; and 1.3% slightly exceeded 105 CFUs. Established safe food-handling procedures can minimize bacterial contamination of BTF and consequently reduce risk of food-borne infection in HEN patients.

The Relationship Among Food Safety Knowledge, Attitude, and Behavior of Young Turkish Women

Objective: The aim of this article is to examine the relationships among food safety knowledge, attitudes, and self-reported behaviors of young women aged between 20 and 25 years and to investigate the mediating role of food safety attitude between knowledge and behavior.Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted with a total of 1,219 young women, with a mean age of 21.3 ± 1.25 years. In order to express the effects of food safety knowledge and attitude on behavior, a structural model was proposed. First, a confirmatory measurement model which reveals how well the observed variables represent the underlying constructs was tested. In the second step, the structural model which allows for analyzing multiple regression equations with multiple dependent variables was analyzed. In order to investigate whether the effect of food safety knowledge on behavior can be mediated by attitude, the mediation analysis was performed.Results: The findings provided support for the hypothesis by clearly indicating that the relationship between food safety knowledge and behavior is mediated by attitude. This implies that encouraging food safety attitude by increasing knowledge rather than simply increasing the level of knowledge might be a more appropriate target for behavior. Although there are direct relationships among knowledge, attitude, and behavior; it is a fact that people's knowledge will not turn into behavior anytime and anywhere.Conclusions: Governments, food producers, food industrialists, and consumers must all be counted as the people who responsible for providing food safety. With this responsibility, the role of the government is to realize effective, widespread, and systematic food control. Consumers are the last point of contact to food; therefore, consumers’ knowledge and practice of food safety play significant roles in foodborne disease outbreaks. They need to learn about safe food handling procedures to maintain their health now and in the future.Key teaching pointsWomen have important tasks in the purchase, preparation, and storage of food.This article develops a mediated structural equation model to link food safety knowledge, attitude, and behavior.Food safety attitude has a mediating role between knowledge and behavior.In order to improve food safety behavior, it is necessary to improve attitude by increasing the knowledge.

Systematic review of industry food safety training topics & modalities

Foodborne illness continues to be of major concern in the US. Food handling and proper procedures have a direct impact on the incidence of foodborne illness. The quality and quantity of training can mitigate the number of foodborne illness outbreaks. The purpose of this review was to evaluate studies published between 2013 and 2018 specific to the topics, modalities and assessment of training interventions for food handlers in foodservice operations. Lecture style was the most common modality. Visual aids were often used to supplement lectures including, photographs, posters, info sheets, brochure/comic book, and videos. The most covered topics were hand hygiene, followed by temperature controls, personal hygiene, cleaning and sanitizing, and cross contamination. The majority of studies used a pre/post intervention questionnaire to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices. Direct observation and microbial testing were also used as assessment tools. While most studies reported knowledge increase post intervention, few reported behavior change. A lack of novel approaches to conveying food safety content was noted.

Outbreak of Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 Infection Associated with Minced Meat Cutlets Consumption in Kanagawa, Japan.

An outbreak of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157:H7 infection occurred in October 2016 in Kanagawa, Japan. A total of 61 patients and 17 asymptomatic cases of EHEC O157:H7 infection were confirmed by laboratory testing. Among them, 24 patients were hospitalized and 4 developed hemolytic-uremic syndrome. An epidemiological investigation revealed that this outbreak of EHEC O157:H7 infection was associated with the consumption of uncooked minced meat cutlets that were sold frozen at branches of a supermarket chain. The implicated uncooked meat cutlets were made of a mixture of minced beef, pork, onions, and eggs. All 40 meat cutlets tested from one particular batch were positive for EHEC O157:H7. The patterns observed on pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of strains isolated from the affected patients and meat cutlets were identical. The bacterial counts of EHEC O157:H7 and E. coli in meat cutlets ranged from 2.3 to 110 most-probable-number (MPN)/g and from 240 to 4,600 MPN/g, respectively. There are currently no national regulatory standards to ensure the safety of these types of meat products in Japan. Consumers should ensure that such products are cooked thoroughly and that safe food handling procedures are used to prevent infection.

ASSESSMENT OF FOOD HANDLING PROCEDURES IN MANSOURA UNIVERSITY HOSTELS

scares have led to call for better hygiene and quality practices. In the last few years, there have been a large number of cases of poisoning among students in university hostels, such as at Al-Azhar University. Food handling personnel are assumed to be responsible for most illnesses as a result of poor handling behavior at hostels. Food poisoning outbreaks of salmonella typhi, listeria monocytogenes and e-coli bacteria have made the students more skeptical of the food they eat. In university hostels, food handling procedures should be practiced by the correct and safely way during flow of food. This research aims to assess food handling procedures in Mansoura university hostels. To achieve this objective, a food safety observation checklist was developed and adopted on six hostels from seven in Mansoura (one of them has been closed for maintenance during the period from March 2017 to June 2017) to identify to what extent the correct food handling procedures are followed. The list included sixty- three attributes covering receiving, storing, preparation, cooking, holding packaging ,transportation, pests control and food service process. For the observation checklist, a five point likert scale was used to evaluate the sub-attributes(Always- Often-Sometimes-Rarely-Never). The results of the research indicated that some of the investigated hostels often follow correctly food safety practices . Upon the research findings some recommendations were suggested to improve food handling procedures in the investigated university hostels such as; application of food safety practices during the food handling procedures, maintenance of equipments especially for the receiving process and establishing a separate department for food quality control within each university hostels.

Safe Food Handling Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Food Handlers in Hospital Kitchen

Hospital food hygiene plays an important role to patient's health. Studies proved that improper practices and lack of knowledge are contributing factors of foodborne diseases. This study was conducted to determine knowledge, attitude and practice of hospital safe food handling in Semarang, Central Java. A cross sectional study was conducted in two general hospitals' kitchen. Data were collected from 60 food handlers through validated questionnaire. Respondents were grouped into two categories: a. Teaching Hospital, and b.Non-teaching Hospital. Data were collected in February-April 2017. Most of food handlers (80%) were graduated from vocational senior high school (SMK). Respondent's age were 28-37 years (36.7%) in average. Most of respondent‟s work experience (85%) was less than 15 years. The result showed that more than 80% of food handlers have good knowledge in safe food handling procedures, good attitude (66%) and good practices (90%). There was no significant difference of knowledge, attitude and practices between two groups. Results strongly emphasize the need of food hygiene training of hospital food handlers. It also suggest that non food handlers such as nurse or kitchen supervisor should involved in the training. Some aspects of food handlers' safety behavior need to be emphasized.

A profile of foodservices in Curitiba and a critical analysis of the results of sanitary inspections at these establishments

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the profile of foodservices' in Curitiba, in southern Brazil and the results of health inspections performed at these establishments, with the goal of contributing to improvements in sanitary inspection processes and to the sanitary conditions in foodservices. The study was based on data from sanitary inspections conducted at foodservice establishments from January 2005 to July 2015 found in the Municipal Sanitary Inspection and Environmental Information System. Most of the establishments inspected were restaurants and similar establishments: snack bars, cafes; as well as grocery store, supermarkets and hypermarkets, and most irregularities were found in these sectors. Health inspections in the city are carried out in emergency criteria, and most performed at the request of foodservices that are quest a license or because of a customer complaint. Inspections led to more educational than punitive measures. Even 10 years after passage of a national law governing food handling procedures, when 70% of the foodservices presented improper sanitary conditions. The main irregularities found were related to work procedures and processes, sanitary conditions, and physical structure. These result reinforces the importance that legislators and inspection teams reevaluate their goals, strategies and work processes to prioritize food safety.Practical applicationsThis study is important because it offers a diagnosis and a discussion of foodservices and evaluates actions of Sanitary Inspection Agency, to assist in the development of tools and strategies to strengthen the work of sanitary inspectors so that they can be recognized as agents of transformation in public health.

Erratum to: The Presence of Norovirus and Adenovirus on Environmental Surfaces in Relation to the Hygienic Level in Food Service Operations Associated with a Suspected Gastroenteritis Outbreak.

Norovirus (NoV) gastroenteritis outbreaks appear frequently in food service operations (FSOs), such as in restaurants and canteens. In this study the presence of NoV and adenovirus (AdV) genomes was investigated on the surfaces of premises, especially in kitchens, of 30 FSOs where foodborne gastroenteritis outbreaks were suspected. The objective was to establish a possible association between the presence of virus genomes on surfaces and a visual hygienic status of the FSOs. NoV genome was found in 11 and AdV genome in 8 out of 30 FSOs. In total, 291 swabs were taken, of which 8.9% contained NoV and 5.8% AdV genome. The presence of NoV genomes on the surfaces was not found to associate with lower hygiene level of the premises when based on visual inspection; most (7/9) of the FSOs with NoV contamination on surfaces and a completed evaluation form had a good hygiene level (the best category). Restaurants had a significantly lower proportion of NoV-positive swabs compared to other FSOs (canteens, cafeteria, schools etc.) taken together (p = 0.00014). The presence of a designated break room for the workers was found to be significantly more common in AdV-negative kitchens (p = 0.046). Our findings suggest that swabbing is necessary for revealing viral contamination of surfaces and emphasis of hygiene inspections should be on the food handling procedures, and the education of food workers on virus transmission.

The Presence of Norovirus and Adenovirus on Environmental Surfaces in Relation to the Hygienic Level in Food Service Operations Associated with a Suspected Gastroenteritis Outbreak

Norovirus (NoV) gastroenteritis outbreaks appear frequently in food service operations (FSOs), such as in restaurants and canteens. In this study the presence of NoV and adenovirus (AdV) genomes was investigated on the surfaces of premises, especially in kitchens, of 30 FSOs where foodborne gastroenteritis outbreaks were suspected. The objective was to establish a possible association between the presence of virus genomes on surfaces and a visual hygienic status of the FSOs. NoV genome was found in 11 and AdV genome in 8 out of 30 FSOs. In total, 291 swabs were taken, of which 8.9% contained NoV and 5.8% AdV genome. The presence of NoV genomes on the surfaces was not found to associate with lower hygiene level of the premises when based on visual inspection; most (7/9) of the FSOs with NoV contamination on surfaces and a completed evaluation form had a good hygiene level (the best category). Restaurants had a significantly lower proportion of NoV-positive swabs compared to other FSOs (canteens, cafeteria, schools etc.) taken together (p = 0.00014). The presence of a designated break room for the workers was found to be significantly more common in AdV-negative kitchens (p = 0.046). Our findings suggest that swabbing is necessary for revealing viral contamination of surfaces and emphasis of hygiene inspections should be on the food handling procedures, and the education of food workers on virus transmission.

Manipulación de alimentos en el ambiente doméstico como un factor de vulnerabilidad a las enfermedades transmitidas por los alimentos

Introduction: the concept of food security and nutrition is based on the regular and sufficient access to food of adequate quality and it implies food safety as one of its dimensions. Objective: to analyze the sanitary and hygienic conditions of food handling in households in Chapecó (SC), Brazil. Materials and Methods: descriptive study with 138 households selected by systematic sampling to a 5% significance level and a 4% acceptable error. We applied a questionnaire to the person who was the responsible for food handling in each household. We used descriptive and inferential statistics and we interpreted the data according to health vulnerability framework. Results: we highlight that 50.7% (n=70) reported to just wash vegetables with water, 71% (n=98) reported to wash cutting boards with detergent and cold water, 33, 3% (n=46) reported the use of raw eggs. There was no association between the source of water supply and sanitary failures observed. Conclusions: safe food handling procedures are not adopted in a reasonable proportion of households, which may explain the vulnerability to foodborne diseases in these environments.