Food safety knowledge and hygienic‐sanitary control: A needed company for public well‐being

• Author: Kayode K. Eluwole,Victoria S. Kwol,Turgay Avci,Angela Dalhatu
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2067
• Date: 01 August 2020
• Published date: 01 August 2020

ACADEMIC PAPER

Food safety knowledge and hygienic-sanitary control:

A needed company for public well-being

Victoria S. Kwol

1

| Turgay Avci

1

| Kayode K. Eluwole

1

| Angela Dalhatu

2

1

Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality,

Department of Tourism Management, Eastern

Mediterranean University, Famagusta, North

Cyprus, Turkey

2

Department of Hospitality Management,

School of Science and Technology, Plateau

State Polytechnic, Barkin Ladi, Nigeria

Correspondence

Kayode K. Eluwole, Faculty of Tourism and

Hospitality, Department of Tourism

Management, Eastern Mediterranean

University, Famagusta, North Cyprus, 99628,

Turkey.

Email: kayode.eluwole@emu.edu.tr

Food handlers are essential in the fight for the prevention of foodborne disease out-

breaks as they are critical in ensuring the delivery of safe and healthy food to the

consumers. The current study build on knowledge, attitude, and practice model (KAP)

to investigate the impact of food handlers' knowledge and attitude on the hygienic-

sanitary conditions of food delivered to the consumers in Nigerian hospitality sector.

Using data collected from food handlers in restaurants, hotels and hospitals in Jos

metropolis of Nigeria, the study revealed that handlers applied food safety measures

to the level of their knowledge. Further investigation revealed that KAP model works

effectively in the case of food handlers in Jos. We conclude with recommendations

for the industry and education institutes where handlers are trained.

1|INTRODUCTION

The public health system of any nation is threatened to the degree

with which citizens consume unsafe or contaminated food (Luo et al.,

2019). Especially in developing countries, such as Nigeria, consump-

tion of unsafe food represents a great threat to the public health

(Madaki & Bavorova, 2019). Unanimously, scholars and practitioners

have agreed that food consumption is an identified cause of

foodborne diseases (Al-Kandari, Al-abdeen, & Sidhu, 2019; Asmawi

et al., 2018; Pichler, Ziegler, Aldrian, & Allerberger, 2014; Zanin, da

Cunha, de Rosso, Capriles, & Stedefeldt, 2017). Several statistics have

been given to show the extent of damage that the consumption of

unsafe food could cause to a nation. For instance, the report

of European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on trends, sources of

foodborne outbreaks 2017 showed that 64.8% of cases of outbreak

in 37 European countries under evaluation were related to either poor

handling of food or contamination of food (EFSA, 2018).

Importantly, food handlers have been identified as a major source

of transfer of pathogens and bacteria, which could effectively result in

food contamination (Al-Kandari et al., 2019; Jahan, 2012). Al Suwaidi,

Hussein, Al Faisal, Sawaf, and Wasfy (2012) defined food handlers as

“employees who are employed directly in the production and prepara-

tion of foodstuffs. Those include employees in the manufacturing, cat-

ering and retail industries as well as those who are undertaking

maintenance or repair of equipment in food handling areas, whether

permanent staff, workers on contract or visitors to food handling

areas (Al Suwaidi et al., 2012).”Essentially, food handling refers to the

overall stages involved in the processing of food from raw to consum-

able entity. While these processes are inevitable, they also constitute

vulnerable points through which the food in-processing could get

contaminated.

Bearing in mind the importance of food handlers in ensuring safe

processing of food for the public consumption as well as the potential

damage that the consumption of unsafe and/or contaminated food

poses to the general populace, it is therefore of a paramount necessity

to ensure that food handlers are both knowledgeable in the handling

processes and also implement practical their food safety knowledge in

order to effectively deter the calamitous damage of food borne out-

breaks. Although due to lack of adequate reporting and surveillance

measure national statistics of foodborne outbreaks in Nigeria are lim-

ited, global statistics relating to foodborne outbreaks as reported by

World Health Organization revealed that 10% of world's sickness

results from eating contaminated food (Luo et al., 2019; World Health

Organization, 2019).

Today, hospitality sector in Nigeria is increasingly becoming

important as the government is not only looking for alternative source

of economy but are also encouraging the development of sustainable

tourism growth which invariably demand increased demand on food

handlers to produce more safe and healthy food for the consumption

of the general public. Thus, restaurants, hotels, and hospitals that rep-

resent common outlets of hospitality services are important source of

food services where considerable care must be taken to prevent the

Received: 10 September 2019 Revised: 10 October 2019 Accepted: 3 December 2019

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2067

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https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2067