Food Safety Knowledge among some Women in Alexandria | ||
| Journal of High Institute of Public Health | ||
| Article 5, Volume 37, Issue 4, October 2007, Pages 855-868 PDF (175.29 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/jhiph.2007.22563 | ||
| Author | ||
| Naglaa F. Gomaa* | ||
| Department of Nutrition (Division of Food Hygiene and Control), High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Poor food handling practices in the home are likely the cause of gastroenteritis. This study interviewed 105 Egyptian women to see how often reported practices met public health food safety recommendations. Face to face interviews were conducted asking respondents about aspects needed during the flow of food through the operation, including; sanitation, food purchasing and food preparation and serving. Results showed that 60.00% of respondents did not wash hands throughout preparation, 30.76% of them didn’t cover hair while preparing food, 55.23% of them exposed refrigerated food to temperature abuse because of frequent opening of the refrigerator door during food preparation and 64.61 did not wash utensils between food preparation. Regarding food purchasing, 60.00% of respondents could buy from unclean stores, 30.76% continued purchasing although the improper cleanliness of the food handler, 43.07% preferred low price rather than good quality foods. Although many respondents knew the characteristics of good quality food, 42.00% of them could buy non-refrigerated meat and 78.46% could buy fish not surrounded by ice crystals. For food preparation and serving, 42.85% of respondents thawed food improperly by leaving it at ambient kitchen temperature, 80.95% of subjects held food at room temperature up to or more than one hour, 86.15 cooled foods by leaving it covered on the stove, and 40.00% and 45.00% of them just warmed prepared food for reheating and reheated it more than once, respectively. People preparing food in the home need to be reminded of the increased risk of disease that can arise from poor food handling practices. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Food Safety; Knowledge; Women; alexandria | ||
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