Food safety at home: knowledge and practices among adults in suburban community in Malaysia
Background/Aim Foodborne illness is attributable to improper preparation of foods either at home or food premises. Due to hot and humid climate in Malaysia, it becomes the favourable condition for the growth of foodborne bacteria and contributed the high number of reported cases for food poisonin...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Conference or Workshop Item |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/66913/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/66913/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/66913/1/Dr.%20Zubir%202018%20Abstracts%20Book_poster%20Taiwan.pdf |
| Summary: | Background/Aim
Foodborne illness is attributable to improper preparation of foods either at home or food premises. Due to
hot and humid climate in Malaysia, it becomes the favourable condition for the growth of foodborne
bacteria and contributed the high number of reported cases for food poisoning. Most people unaware that
the risk of food poisoning may originate from home is higher than food consumed in the restaurants. Even
though there is usually a small outbreaks that come from home, the actual proportion of this outbreaks is
likely to be much larger than it has been reported to be. Thus, this study aims to determine the level of
knowledge and practices of food safety among adults in sub urban Malaysia living at home.
Methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted among adults lived in sub urban area located in the east coast of
Malaysia. All participants aged between 18 to 65 years old were randomly recruited. Data were collected
through a guided self-administered validated questionnaire which consisted of questions regarding
knowledge and practices of food safety.
Results
A total of 390 eligible adults with a mean age of 35.9 years (SD: 9.1) responded to our study (response
rate: 68.3%). Majority of them had good knowledge (66.2%) and practices (96.4%). The level of good
knowledge was significantly associated with those who had sources of information on food safety
( 2=10.733, p = 0.001). However, there were no significant differences for all sociodemographic factors
with their practices. A significant positive relationship between total score of knowledge and practices
was also observed (rs = 0.211, p < 0.001).
Conclusions
Overall, this study demonstrated that food safety knowledge of the adults reflected their good practice
towards food handling at home. Findings will help the policy maker to make decision in preventing the
foodborne illness. |
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