Knowledge, attitudes and practice of food services staff on food hygiene at Tabriz  University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Nasim  Zolfaghari Firouzsalari; Arezou   Khezerlou; Hajar   Zolfaghari; Najmeh  Shahmahdi; Mahmood Alizadeh-Sani; Zahra  Mahmoodi

doi:10.18502/jfsh.v6i2.6524

Nasim Zolfaghari Firouzsalari Students Research Committee, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Health, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
Arezou Khezerlou Students Research Committee, Department of Food Sciences and Technology, Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Hajar Zolfaghari Department of Food Sciences and Technology, Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Najmeh Shahmahdi Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Health, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Mahmood Alizadeh-Sani Students Research Committee, Department of Food Sciences and Technology, Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Zahra Mahmoodi Azarshahr Network of Health and Treatment, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/jfsh.v6i2.6524

Keywords: Awareness; Attitudes; Practices; Food services staff; Food hygiene; Food-borne illnesses

Abstract

Food hygiene must be observed in production, storage, supply, and sales to obtain healthy foods with desirable quality. The purpose of present study was to evaluate the awareness, attitudes, and practices of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences food services staff toward food hygiene. A questionnaire consisting of 46 questions was completed by 40 food services staff from February to March 2019. Based on the results, respondents had an acceptable awareness (92.5% to 100% general sanitary awareness and 37.5% to 95% awareness about microbial food hazards), excellent attitudes (97.5% to 100%), and moderate practices regarding food hygiene (17.5% to 97.5%). Although all participants had a relatively high level of awareness and attitude and participated in food safety education courses, their practices were somewhat poor.