Assessing the Safety of Hotel Food: Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of Food Handlers

Food safety is of global public health concern. Hotels and their restaurants provide hospitality like accommodation and food services and are spearheaded by food handlers who have varied experiences. This study was undertaken to examine knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) on food safety and exp...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Cynthia Esinam Segbedzi, Edward Wilson Ansah, Daniel Apaak
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024-01-01
Series:Journal of Food Quality
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2024/7361284
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832546130364203008
author Cynthia Esinam Segbedzi
Edward Wilson Ansah
Daniel Apaak
author_facet Cynthia Esinam Segbedzi
Edward Wilson Ansah
Daniel Apaak
author_sort Cynthia Esinam Segbedzi
collection DOAJ
description Food safety is of global public health concern. Hotels and their restaurants provide hospitality like accommodation and food services and are spearheaded by food handlers who have varied experiences. This study was undertaken to examine knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) on food safety and explore knowledge-practice gaps among food handlers at hotels in Ghana. There were 233 participants, including 205 food handlers, 10 managers/chefs, and 18 regulatory officials, who were at post after the COVID-19 restrictions were eased on hotel and restaurant activities. Data were gathered through questionnaire with food handlers and face-to-face interview with managers/chefs and officials of the regulatory agencies. Frequencies and percentages, and Wilcoxon signed ranked test were employed to analyse the data. The knowledge on food safety was moderate, 58 ± 0.169, and 82% of the food handlers portrayed positive attitude towards food safety, while only 42.8% demonstrated good food safety practices. There was significant variance between knowledge and practice such that food handlers’ food safety knowledge did not reflect in their daily practices, yet most of the food handlers had training prior to being employed. Many people may be eating contaminated foods from hotels that may increase the rate of food-borne illnesses. We suggest continuous training in transmission of food-borne diseases and time and temperature control, and that the training should be obligatory to reinforce food handlers’ KAP. In addition, managers need to intensify their collaborations with the regulators to improve monitoring and supervision activities at the hotels.
format Article
id doaj-art-51386d5610124be4924e11156f6f8967
institution Kabale University
issn 1745-4557
language English
publishDate 2024-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Journal of Food Quality
spelling doaj-art-51386d5610124be4924e11156f6f89672025-02-03T07:23:45ZengWileyJournal of Food Quality1745-45572024-01-01202410.1155/2024/7361284Assessing the Safety of Hotel Food: Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of Food HandlersCynthia Esinam Segbedzi0Edward Wilson Ansah1Daniel Apaak2Department of HealthDepartment of HealthDepartment of HealthFood safety is of global public health concern. Hotels and their restaurants provide hospitality like accommodation and food services and are spearheaded by food handlers who have varied experiences. This study was undertaken to examine knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) on food safety and explore knowledge-practice gaps among food handlers at hotels in Ghana. There were 233 participants, including 205 food handlers, 10 managers/chefs, and 18 regulatory officials, who were at post after the COVID-19 restrictions were eased on hotel and restaurant activities. Data were gathered through questionnaire with food handlers and face-to-face interview with managers/chefs and officials of the regulatory agencies. Frequencies and percentages, and Wilcoxon signed ranked test were employed to analyse the data. The knowledge on food safety was moderate, 58 ± 0.169, and 82% of the food handlers portrayed positive attitude towards food safety, while only 42.8% demonstrated good food safety practices. There was significant variance between knowledge and practice such that food handlers’ food safety knowledge did not reflect in their daily practices, yet most of the food handlers had training prior to being employed. Many people may be eating contaminated foods from hotels that may increase the rate of food-borne illnesses. We suggest continuous training in transmission of food-borne diseases and time and temperature control, and that the training should be obligatory to reinforce food handlers’ KAP. In addition, managers need to intensify their collaborations with the regulators to improve monitoring and supervision activities at the hotels.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2024/7361284
spellingShingle Cynthia Esinam Segbedzi
Edward Wilson Ansah
Daniel Apaak
Assessing the Safety of Hotel Food: Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of Food Handlers
Journal of Food Quality
title Assessing the Safety of Hotel Food: Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of Food Handlers
title_full Assessing the Safety of Hotel Food: Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of Food Handlers
title_fullStr Assessing the Safety of Hotel Food: Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of Food Handlers
title_full_unstemmed Assessing the Safety of Hotel Food: Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of Food Handlers
title_short Assessing the Safety of Hotel Food: Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of Food Handlers
title_sort assessing the safety of hotel food knowledge attitude and practices of food handlers
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2024/7361284
work_keys_str_mv AT cynthiaesinamsegbedzi assessingthesafetyofhotelfoodknowledgeattitudeandpracticesoffoodhandlers
AT edwardwilsonansah assessingthesafetyofhotelfoodknowledgeattitudeandpracticesoffoodhandlers
AT danielapaak assessingthesafetyofhotelfoodknowledgeattitudeandpracticesoffoodhandlers