The Sanitary Condition of Food Establishments and Health Status and Personal Hygiene among Food Handlers in a Rural Area of Western Maharashtra, India

Authors

  • Jayant D Deshpande Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Rural Medical College, Pravara Institute of Medical Science, Loni, Maharashtra
  • Deepak B Phalke Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Rural Medical College, Pravara Institute of Medical Science, Loni, Maharashtra

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3126/ajms.v4i2.7895

Keywords:

Food Establishments, Sanitary Condition, Food Handler, Hygiene

Abstract

Background: Foodborne disease occurs in mass catering establishment that is not complying with sanitary and hygienic food handling and preparation.

Objective: Objective of the present study was to explore the status of sanitary condition of food establishments and to assess hygienic practices among food handlers.

Material and Method: A cross-sectional study design was used to assess the sanitary condition of food establishments and personal hygiene of food handlers. Data was collected with the help of structured and pre-tested questionnaires. The questionnaire also allowed the interviewers to record their observations. All the data obtained was entered into Microsoft Excel and analyzed using the software StatistiXL version 1.8.

Result: Separate kitchen and Onsite solid waste storage containers/receptacles were available in 4(16%) establishments. Provision for heating devices for cooked food was available in 5(20%) establishments. Wash basin present with soap were available in 10 (40%) of the food establishments. Sweeping and washing floor with water and disinfectant was done in 8(32%) food establishments. Male and female food handlers’ have equal percentage of morbidity and this difference was not statistically significant (χ2=0.0329, p=0.84), but anaemia was significantly higher among female food handlers (χ2=6.30, p=0.01). Poor hygienic practices were significantly associated with presence of infectious diseases like ARI, diarrhoea, dysentery and skin infections. (χ2=5.71, p=0.017).

Conclusion: Food establishments in the study area were found to have poor sanitation and were not maintained well. The health status and the level of personal hygiene of the food handlers in the eating establishments were found to be unsatisfactory. There is need of enforcement of sanitary provisions and educating the food handlers about personal hygiene.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ajms.v4i2.7895

Asian Journal of Medical Sciences 4(2013) 23-29

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
Abstract
1507
PDF
1368

Downloads

Published

2013-05-13

How to Cite

Deshpande, J. D., & Phalke, D. B. (2013). The Sanitary Condition of Food Establishments and Health Status and Personal Hygiene among Food Handlers in a Rural Area of Western Maharashtra, India. Asian Journal of Medical Sciences, 4(2), 23–29. https://doi.org/10.3126/ajms.v4i2.7895

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 2 (2013)

Section

Original Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. The journal holds copyright and publishes the work under a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC license that permits use, distribution and reprduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. The journal should be recognised as the original publisher of this work.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).