Evaluation of food hygiene in commercial food service establishments in Hyderabad

Abstract

Food handlers have a prime role to play in food businesses, and that is to guarantee the meals served are hygienic for consumption. The unhygienic working practices and attitude of the food handlers often play a major role in the food contamination process. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the level of knowledge, attitude and Food hygiene practices among food handlers in commercial food service outlets in Hyderabad. Two hundred food handlers from 20 food service outlets in the vicinity of the University College for Women, Koti were purposively selected for the study. In general the respondents knowledge was moderate with a percentage mean score of 49.8. A base kitchen hygiene check revealed the poor hygiene practices and their attitude towards safe food handling is also moderate with a mean percentage score of 46.9 and 57.6 respectively. The microbial load of the skin and nail swabs among food handlers has shown a viable count of highly pathogenic bacteria like E.coli and Staphylococcus. Periodic Vigilance checks of the outlets by the regulatory authorities, Training sessions and periodic medical checkups of the food personnel by the management are necessary to protect the health of the food handlers and to promote Food safety.