Knowledge and Practices Related to Food Hygiene among Food Handlers in Sokoto, Nigeria

Introduction: Unsafe food poses global health threats, endangering everyone Vended foods are considered to be a public health hazard because the food handlers are often poor, have poor schooling and lack appreciation for food hygiene practices (particularly in developing countries). However, the restaurants have a large clientele base ranging from the rich to the poor who are exposed to these hazards and thus any outbreak of food borne illnesses could be disastrous. This study aimed to determine the knowledge and practice related to food hygiene among food handlers in Sokoto, Nigeria.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 263 food handlers selected by a multistage sampling technique. Data were collected with a set of pre-tested interviewer- administered, semi-structured questionnaire, and observer’s checklist. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 20 statistical package.

Results: The mean age of the respondents was 27.14 ± 8.84.years. Most of the respondents were females (82.9%), and a majority of respondents were single (52.5%), and had at least primary education (51.3%). Most, 198 (75.3%) of the 263 respondents had good knowledge of food hygiene, and close to two-thirds 152 (57.8%) had good knowledge of food borne illness. Although a majority of respondents consistently observe food hygiene practices such as covering their nose and mouth while sneezing (86.3%) and cooking food thoroughly (66.5%), compliance with the other food hygiene practices was poor (ranged from 1.1 to 35.4%). The sanitary condition in a substantial proportion of the restaurants was also poor.

Conclusion: Despite good knowledge of food hygiene and food borne illnesses among the respondents in this study, they showed poor compliance with food hygiene practices; and the sanitary condition of a substantial proportion of the restaurants was poor. Promotion of good sanitary practices among food handlers and regulation of their practices by the government agencies concerned to ensure compliance with basic sanitary standards were suggested.