| dc.description.abstract | Introduction: Food borne illnesses has devastated the health of humans among developed
and developing countries and this has been attributed to poor food handling amongst the food
handlers. Food borne infections in Uganda are among the major causes of mortality and it
was vital to identify and address the missing gaps in food hygiene amongst food handlers.
Objective: This study assessed the knowledge, attitude and practices on food hygiene among
food handlers in public eating places in Kumi Municipality, Kumi District.
Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study design that utilized quantitative research
approach was conducted. Eating houses were sampled systematically and only two
respondents at eating house were randomly selected. Data on socio-demographics,
knowledge, attitudes and practices of food handlers towards food hygiene was collected
through face-to-face interviews with the respondents and observations. Data collected was
entered using EPIDATA and later analyzed with STATA 14.0 software. Univariate analysis
was done and results were presented in form of tables and graphs.
Results: 110 food handlers participated in this study and majority (83.6%, 92/110) were
females. Most (42.7%, 47/110) respondents had low level of education and more than three
quarters (79.1%, 87/110) belonged to 18-30 age group and. The food handlers had good food
safety knowledge (81.4%, 90/110) with a positive attitude (79.0%, 87/110) towards food
safety and exhibited good food safety practices (74.3%, 82/110).
Conclusion: This study found a high level of food safety knowledge, positive attitudes
towards food safety and exhibited safe food practices among food handlers in Kumi
municipal Council. These study findings indicate that the food handlers had good knowledge
on food safety translated into good food handling practices and this was as result of their
positive attitudes towards food safety. Continuous practice of health inspection by the public
health department and medical examination of all food handlers should be ensured on regular
basis | en_US |
