Food safety practice and its associated factors among food Handlers working in public food establishments of jimma town: cross Sectional study: august, 2022, south west ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Illness and death from diseases caused by contaminated food are a constant threat to public health. Food borne diseases are more critical and involves a wide range of diseases in developing countries for various reasons. Food safety practice is the first method used to reduce the prevalence of food borne disease. In Ethiopia, data on food safety issue and its factors were not adequate and under reported. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the food Safety Practice and its Associated Factors among Food Handlers Working in Public Food Establishments of Jimma town from 25 May to 1july, 2022. Method: An institution based cross-sectional study conducted among (330) food handlers work in public food establishments in Jimma town from 25 May to 1July, 2022. Participants were selected using simple random sampling method. Data were collected using structured questionnaire via face-to-face interview and observational checklist. Data cleaned and entered in to Epi data version 3.1 and analyzed by SPSS version 23. Summary of descriptive statistics conduced on variables. Bi-variable and multivariable logistic regression model used to identify factors associated to food safety practice. The degrees of association between dependent variable and independent variables assessed by using AOR at 95% CI with p-value less than 0.05. Result: From 330 participants, 160 (48.5%) of them had satisfactory food safety practice. Being female [AOR = 1.81, CI 95%. (1.03, 3.21)], managers/supervisor being relatives [AOR =0.26, CI 95 %( 0.07, 0.90)], Attitude towards food safety practice [AOR=2.45, 95%CI (1.30, 4.70)] Distance between sink and meat or food preparation place being < =1m [AOR=1.90, 95%CI (1.07, 3.39)] were independent predictors of food safety practice. Conclusion: the result of this study was low and only about half of the food handlers had satisfactory safety practice. Sex, managers being relatives, attitude of food handlers and Distance between sink and meat or food preparation place less than or equal to one meter were statistically associated with food safety practices. So strong strategies targeted at improving the safety practice of food handlers are importan