CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Food safety is a critical aspect of maintaining public health and preventing foodborne
illnesses. In home kitchens, where food is prepared and consumed on a daily basis, it is
essential for individuals to have adequate knowledge and practice safe food handling
techniques. Understanding the existing literature on food safety knowledge and practices in
home kitchens can provide valuable insights into consumer perceptions, attitudes, and
behaviors related to food safety.This review aims to synthesize the available literature on safety
food knowledge and practices in home kitchens. By examining various studies and research
articles, we will explore consumers' perceptions and attitudes towards food safety, risky food
handling practices, and barriers that may hinder the implementation of safe food handling
practices at home. Additionally, we will delve into the importance of proper food safety
knowledge, positive attitudes, and effective practices among food handlers in preventing food
contamination.By understanding the current state of food safety knowledge and practices in
home kitchens, we can identify areas for improvement and develop targeted interventions to
promote safe food handling behaviors. Ultimately, enhancing food safety in home kitchens is
crucial for safeguarding public health and reducing the incidence of foodborne illnesses.
RELATED LITERATURE
The results of qualitative and quantitative research of food safety knowledge and practices
among the elderly in Slovenia are presented and discussed. Data were collected via observation
and anonymous questionnaires. The study was conducted in 2009 with 100 elderly people, who
were attending training for maintaining their balance at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the
University of Ljubljana in Slovenia at the time of the investigation. The aim of the study was to
investigate the food safety knowledge and practices of the elderly in urban and rural
environments. For this study, an observation sheet and a questionnaire were designed.
Observations about good hygiene practice at home were performed with six elderly people
living in the city and ten living in villages. During observation, ten different surfaces in the
homes of six volunteers in town were swabbed and examined for microbiological quality. Fifty
randomly selected elderly people living in town and the same number living in villages were
included in the questionnaire.The results gained via the observations and the questionnaire
show a certain amount of inappropriateness during food preparation processes between
groups, especially in terms of poor hygiene, incorrect sequences of food preparation, incorrect
temperature and distribution of food in the refrigerator. The results show that most working
surfaces and kitchen tools are contaminated with non-pathogenic and potentially pathogenic
microorganisms. The hands of the volunteers are the most contaminated by microorganisms
among all selected surfaces, followed by kitchen counters and chopping boards. The elderly are
not sufficiently aware of how important their role in the food supply chain is. Their behaviour is
not always in accordance with good hygiene practice and may lead to food-borne diseases at
home.
FOREIGN STUDIES
This study aimed to analyze the food safety conditions in home kitchens from the Brazilian
Federal District. A previously validated instrument composed of 77 items (in four blocks) was
used to evaluate the safety conditions in home kitchens. A survey was carried out with on-site
application with 226 home kitchens’ food handlers in the Federal District, Brazil to evaluate
Brazilian home kitchens’ good practices. Of the home kitchen food handlers, most of them were
female (64.6%), had completed undergraduate education (29.2%), and were 45–59 years old
(23.5%). The visited households had an average of 3.38 ± 1.48 residents that ate some of their
meals at home, and 40% declared the monthly family income to be between 5 and 15 Brazilian
minimum wages (MW).Regarding the reliability of the instrument, from the KR-20 test, it was
verified that the instrument presents good internal consistency (α = 0.758). According to the
instrument classification, the home kitchens’ sample was considered as at a medium risk of
food contamination (46.5% of them presented from 51 to 75% of conformities to the
instrument). There was a statistical difference between house-kitchens with a family income
from zero to one minimum wage (MW) and those receiving from 5 to 15 MW (p = 0.017), as
well as between those from zero to one MW and who earn above 15 MW (p = 0.009). The
result of the on-site evaluation shows that the instrument was able to measure food safety
conditions in Brazilian Federal District domestic kitchens. Such findings can contribute positively
to the development of actions in health education that help in the adoption of good practices of
food manipulation and, consequently, in the reduction in foodborne disease outbreaks in
residences.
LOCAL STUDIES
This study was aimed to measure the basic knowledge on food safety and food handling
practices among migrant food handlers as these information is scarce in Malaysia. A cross-
sectional study was conducted face-to-face amongst 383 migrant food handlers from three
major cities in Peninsular Malaysia through questionnaire. Socio-demographic information of all
respondents was collected. Questions on food safety knowledge (i.e. food cleanliness and
hygiene, symptom of foodborne illnesses and foodborne pathogens) and food handling
practices were assessed. The compiled data were analyzed by using the Statistical Packages for
Social Science (SPSS) 16.0. Overall, migrant food handlers had poor level of knowledge on food
safety with an average food handling practice. Significant effects were observed between
respondents’ food safety knowledge and socio-demography (country of origin and educational
level) and two factors namely; respondents’ nationality and attendance at food training
programs showed significant associations with their food handling practices. Multiple logistic
regression analyses revealed that attendance at food training programs was a significant and
independent predictor of the respondent’s food handling practice. The study’s findings
highlighted issues with regards to the extent of knowledge acquisition on food safety and
hygiene by migrant food handlers. Therefore, this warrants improvements not only in the
better delivery methods of training modules but also tight enforcement of attendance at the
programs by the respective authorities.
