Evaluation of hygiene and food handling attitudes and practices during social isolation due to covid-19 in peruvian households: A cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT

The pandemic has affected almost all areas of people's lives and the way food is prepared is no exception. Food safety has been hit the hardest in the COVID-19 era. The aim of this paper was to investigate the attitudes and hygienic practices and food handling during social isolation by COVID-19 in Peruvian homes. A cross-sectional study was conducted that included 538 participants over 18 years of age from all regions of Peru, administering an online survey of 15 questions. The sample was selected by nonprobability sampling for convenience. The data were analysed using the statistical software IBM SPSS version 24 and the Chi-square test was used. A significance level of 5% was considered. Women represented the highest percentage of the sample (73.0%). 87.7% of the participants considered correct handling of food at home important during social isolation. Whereas 49.7% of the sample reported that they began to emphasize good handling practices when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Hand washing practices were more frequent in participants with a higher level of education (p<0.001). In general, the participants demonstrated a positive attitude and were aware of the role of hygienic practices when handling food.