Knowledge, attitude and practices of food handlers on food hygiene and food safety in Pece division, Gulu municipality, Gulu district

Abstract

Introduction Food borne illness outbreaks is a challenge globally affecting both the developed and developing countries negatively. Approximately 2 million fatal cases of food borne illness occur every year globally. Since Gulu district has many food establishments, it was therefore paramount to identify the missing gaps in food hygiene and food safety status of these premises to come up with measures to beef up the prevention of food borne illness in the district and nation at large. Methods A descriptive, cross sectional study design using quantitative research approach was used. Data was collected among 106 respondents through face to face interviews and an observational checklist. SPSS version 23 was used for data analysis. Proportions were calculated from the data whenever required from the frequency tables. Bivariate analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between the respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics and their level, attitude and practice level. Results The results showed that the food handlers had excellent knowledge, acceptable attitude and good practice towards food hygiene and safety with mean score (SD) of 88.54 (10.23), 74.87 (19.62) and 69.81 (23.54) respectively. There is a significant relationship between level of education (P-value=0.03), work experience (P-value=0.02) and knowledge, level of education (P-value= <0.01), knowledge (P-value= <0.01) and attitude, knowledge (P-value=0.03), attitude (P-value=0.01) and practice. Conclusion Despite the results showing satisfactory KAP levels of the food handlers, having sufficient knowledge about food hygiene and safety, considering food poisoning as an important matter and practices on how to keep left over food properly should be emphasized among them.