Artigo de Periódico
Knowledge, attitudes and practices in food safety and the presence of coagulasepositive staphylococci on hands of food handlers in the schools of Camaçari, Brazil
Fecha
2012Autor
Soares, Lílian Santos
Almeida, Rogeria Comastri de Castro
Cerqueira, Ellayne S.
Carvalho, Joelza S.
Nunes, Itaciara Larroza
Soares, Lílian Santos
Almeida, Rogeria Comastri de Castro
Cerqueira, Ellayne S.
Carvalho, Joelza S.
Nunes, Itaciara Larroza
Institución
Resumen
The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices in food safety and
the presence of coagulase-positive staphylococci species on the hands of food handlers in the municipal
schools of Camaçari, Bahia in northeast Brazil. This study was conducted in two stages. In the first stage,
166 food handlers were interviewed via a questionnaire to assess their food safety knowledge, attitudes
and practices. In the second phase, the presence of coagulase-positive staphylococci species on the hands
of food handlers was determined. The results indicated that most of the handlers had been trained
(92.2%), but the level of knowledge was insufficient; the average proficiency score was <70% accuracy.
Attitude received the highest scores, and no handler had a score below 50.0%. Logistic regression analysis
showed that the level of education and specific subject expertise of the handlers were associated with
general knowledge about food safety. Food handler overall had positive attitudes on food safety with all
scores above 50.0%. Despite a high prevalence of training and positive attitudes about food safety, 53.3%
of the hand samples showed the presence of coagulase-positive staphylococci. No associations were
found between the knowledge attitudes and practices of food handlers and the presence of the pathogen
on their hands. The results showed inadequate sanitary practices of food handlers, highlighting the need
to review the current model for training food handlers and to improve accessibility to sinks and supplies
to ensure proper hygiene.