Assessing the Knowledge, Behavior and Practices of Food Safety and Hygiene among Saudi Women in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia

Background: Unsafe food is a serious concern for human health and well-being and has surfaced as a burning issue worldwide. Aims: The present work was aimed at assessing the awareness, behavior and practices of food safety and hygiene among Women in Eastern region of Saudi Arabia. Methodology: A comprehensive questionnaire was designed for collecting required data. The questionnaire comprised mainly of three questions pertaining to food safety issue like (1) knowledge and attitude of food handling (buying, storage and serving food), (2) behavior and practices, (3) food safety knowledge & awareness. The data were analyzed for descriptive, frequency distribution and percentages using SPSS software. Results: Findings indicated that 40% of the women purchased their foods and needs on weekly basis with high rate for the chicken (67.7%) and meat (57.9%), while 26.4% “weekly” utilize or cook vegetables and fruits. 96.2%, 97.4% and 98.3% of the women “always” washed their hands after touching raw chicken/meats and fish, while 48.9% utilized separate cutting boards/knives for raw chicken/meat and fish. However, 89.8% of respondent female rinse cutting boards, knives and plates used for chicken/meats and fish before using them for other food. Only 22.6% of the women “always” checked their fridge temperature (4°C), while 28.1% and 23.4% of the female believed that it was “safe” to leave hot or cold foods out of the fridge for more than 4 hours, respectively. 60% of women believed that it was safe practices to thaw food outside the fridge. Conclusion: Majority of the women in Eastern region (>90%) were well aware of food safety and wash their hands, cutting boards, knives and plates. However, about 25% of the respondent’s female believed that it was “safe” to leave hot/cold foods out of the fridge for more than 4 hours, while 60% believed it was “safe” to defrost frozen foods outside the fridge.

Calidad microbiológica de alimentos remitidos a un laboratorio de salud pública en el año 2009 / The microbiological quality of food sent to a public health laboratory in 2009

Objetivo Analizar la calidad Microbiológica de alimentos provenientes de los Municipios de Santander, procesados por el Laboratorio Departamental de Salud Pública durante el año 2009. Materiales y Métodos Se analizó la calidad microbiológica de los alimentos remitidos al LDSP de Santander durante el año 2009 mediante la recopilación de los reportes emitidos por la institución y la realización de un análisis estadístico de 763 muestras de alimentos provenientes de 76 municipios del departamento. Se analizó la información por municipio en los programas estadísticos Minitab versión 15 y Statistica versión 8.0 donde se organizó la información por categorías alimentarias y se analizaron las frecuencias en cada municipio durante el periodo de enero a diciembre del 2009 Resultados Se evidenció que de los 763 registros de alimentos el 45,2 % (n=345) presentaron contaminación bacteriana, observándose una mayor frecuencia de estos eventos en los municipios de Barichara, Barrancabermeja, Floridablanca, Girón, Socorro y Valle de San José con el 33,6 % (n=116) del total de muestras afectadas. Los principales alimentos que presentaron parámetros fuera de norma fueron los alimentos preparados con un total de 160 muestras remitidas, de las cuales 80 presentaron alteraciones lo que corresponde al 50 %, seguido de las bebidas como jugos y refrescos con un 48,3 %, los lácteos 47,9 % y los cárnicos 40,7 %. Conclusiones En las muestras remitidas al LDSP se encontró un alto índice de contaminación alimentaria durante el año 2009, información útil para la planeación de acciones preventivas dentro de los programa de vigilancia del LDSP.

Objective Testing the microbiological qualityof foodsamples from municipalities in theSantander department which were processed bythePublicHealth Laboratory(PHL) in 2009. Materialsand Methods The microbiological quality of food samples sent to the Santander PHL in 2009 was analysed by collecting reports issued by the institution and conducting a statistical analysis of 763 food samples from 76 municipalities in the department. Minitab statistical software (version 15) and Statistica (version 8.0) were used for analysing the information by municipality; this information was organised by food category and adverse incident frequency was analysed in each municipality from January to December 2009. Results It was seen that 45.2 % (n=345) of 763 food records had bacterial contamination; there was a greater frequency of these events in the municipalities of Barichara, Barrancabermeja, Floridablanca, Girón, Socorro and Valle de San Jose accounting for 33.6 % (n=116) of all affected samples. The main foods that had non-standard parameters were prepared foods (160 samples submitted), of which 80 had alterations in quality (50 %), followed by drinks like fruit juice and soft drinks (48.3 %), dairy products (47.9 %) and meat (40.7 %). Conclusions A high rate of food contamination was found in the samples sent to PHL during 2009; this information is useful for planning preventative action within the ongoing PHL surveillance programme.

Assessment of Food Safety Management Performance for School Food Service in the Seoul Area / 대한지역사회영양학회지

Effective and systematic sanitation management programs are necessary to prevent foodborne disease outbreaks in school foodservice operations. The purpose of this study was to identify the elements to improve in order to ensure the safety of school food service by evaluating sanitation management practices implemented under HACCP-based programs. The survey was designed to assess the level of hygiene practices of school food service by using an inspection checklist of food hygiene and safety. Fifty-four school foodservice establishments considered as poor sanitation practice groups from two year inspections by Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education were surveyed from September to December in 2005. Inspection checklists consisted of seven categories with 50 checkpoints; facilities and equipment management, personal hygiene, ingredient control, process control, environmental sanitation management, HACCP system and safety management. Surveyed schools scored 68.0+/-12.42 points out of 100 on average. The average score (% of compliance) of each field was 10.7/20 (53.3%) for facilities and equipment management, 7.4/11 (67.2%) for personal hygiene, 7.4/11 (74.1%) for ingredient control, 22.4/32 (69.8%) for process control, 8.9/12 (73.8%) for environmental sanitation management, 4.2/7 (59.7%) for HACCP systems management, and 7.2/8 (89.7%) for safety management, respectively. The field to be improved first was the sanitation control of facilities and equipment. The elements to improve this category were unprofessional consultation for kitchen layout, improper compartment of the kitchen area, lacks of pest control, inadequate water supply, poor ventilation system, and insufficient hand-washing facilities. To elevate the overall performance level of sanitation management, prerequisite programs prior to HACCP plan implementation should be stressed on the school officials, specifically principals, for the integration of the system.