Assessment of the Factors Associated with Food Safety Practices Among Food Handlers in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), FCT, Nigeria

Abstract

Abstract Background: Foodborne diseases (FBD) are common public health problems experienced in daily life and food safety practices are critical key public health issues to be considered in preventing and controlling foodborne disease spread. However, evidence regarding food safety knowledge and practice is limited in the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, and lack of knowledge and poor food safety practices significantly undermines the wholesomeness of food produced by the food handler. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate factors associated with food safety practice among food handlers in Abuja Municipal Area (AMAC) of the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. Methods: The study was a Cross-Sectional descriptive design that used a multistage sampling technique to select 288 food handlers from three wards. Data were collected using a pre-tested questionnaire and descriptive analyses was done with frequencies and summaries. Chi Square statistics was used to identify the factors significantly associated with knowledge and practice of the food handlers, while p value was set at 0.05 significant level. Results: While majority of the food handlers had good level of knowledge 77.8% and practice 92.1%, 62.5% had not done their medical check-up, thereby increasing the risk of foodborne disease spread. It was revealed that location of the FSEs (p = 0.00 5) and work experience (p = 0.004) were factors significantly associated with knowledge while age (p = 0.001), education status (p = 0.000), location of the FSEs (p = 0.001), work experience (p = 0.001) and food safety training (p = 0.000). Conclusion: The overall knowledge of the food handlers translated to good food safety practices. However, they were shown to have poor knowledge on contamination, hand wash and poor practice on checking the temperature of food. Public health awareness campaign and trainings are important interventions to enhance their level of food safety practice and prevent the spread of foodborne diseases.