Food safety awareness and practices by home makers in Bhubaneswar city

Abstract

Food safety, an increasingly important public health issue refers to the conditions and practices that preserve the quality of food to prevent contamination microbes or toxic chemicals resulting in food borne illness. Ensuring food safety at the household level is well accepted and an understanding of the status of the food handling knowledge and practices is needed. The aim of the present study was to examine knowledge and practice related to food safety among women responsible for preparing food at the home level. 110 women of Bhubaneswar city were selected as the sample for the study and assessed by using a structured questionnaire. The study showed that the respondents lack food safety knowledge. As per personal hygiene, though 84.5 per cent women adopt hand washing before cooking only 11.8 per cent did it with soap/sanitizer. The study showed women needed educational programmes and counselling to adopt hygienic food handling practices.