Evaluation of Food Safety Awareness and Practices Among Restaurants Food Handlers in Northern of West Bank Palestine
Date
2021-09-14
Authors
Nazzal, Alaa
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Abstract
More and more people are eating away from home each year. Food service establishments and restaurants are becoming a major source of food-borne outbreaks. Globally, food borne illnesses are caused an almost 1 in 10 people in the world (estimated 600 million) fall ill and 420 000 deaths worldwide in 2010 (WHO, 2015). Food borne illnesses are mannerism a significant load, that making food safety an important public health. There are limited data available about the awareness of food handlers in food safety in Palestine. This study was conducted was to evaluate food safety awareness and practices among restaurants food handlers in northern Palestine and their relation with some demographic characteristics. Moreover, to assess current situation of food hygiene practices in restaurants. Around 140 Palestinian workers in restaurants have been randomly selected from three governorates (Nablus, Qalqilia, and Tulkarem). Food handlers were subjected to face-to-face interview to fill validated questionnaire related to food safety information and practices. Data from questionnaire were analyzed by descriptive statistics (mean, SEM, minimum and maximum values). Results were evaluated using the ANOVA test of SPSS software. Differences in food handlers' awareness of food safety were not similar in the three studied governorates. On other hand, the percentage of food handlers receiving food safety training and courses was very low. Therefore, more attention must be given to food safety issue from policymakers and public health authorities sectors by training and proper health education messages are needed to raise the awareness of food handlers in general.
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Keywords
Food safety, food handlers, awareness, training, demographic characteristics