KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE OF FOOD HYGIENE AMONG FOOD HANDLERS

Abstract

The study was embarked on to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practice of food hygiene among food handlers in the University of Benin, Edo state. It also aimed at evaluating the impact of food handler’s knowledge on their attitude towards food hygiene. Based on this, five research questions were raised and two were hypothesized and tested at alpha level of 0.05. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study was one hundred and forty four (144) in the University of Benin, Edo state. The sample size of this study was 72 respondents. This was drawn by cluster sampling technique and simple random sampling technique of balloting replacement. A self-structure questionnaire was used for the study. The instrument was validated by three experts and test-retest reliability was done on the instrument. A Pearson Correlation Coefficient value of 0.85 was discovered. Thus the instrument was reliable. Data were analyzed using frequency counts, Percentages and stated hypotheses were tested using linear regression and independent t-test at 0.05 significant level. The following were the findings in the study amongst others: majority of the food handlers had moderate knowledge towards food hygiene; majority of the respondents agreed that food hygiene is seen as something very important, improper cooking of food causes harm to our health and Food hygiene is a practice for everyone. It was seen that the moderate knowledge had negative e weak significant relationship on the food handler’s attitude towards food hygiene. Based on the findings of the study, the researcher recommends that Food Hygiene awareness with emphasis on issues regarding food handling and waste disposal from the kitchen should be included in the basic awareness outreach for food handlers.