Food hygiene and safety practices of food handlers in tuckshops at secondary schools in Umlazi

Abstract

Objective: To determine the food safety and hygiene practices of the food handlers at secondary school tuck shops in Umlazi, Durban, South Africa in order to assess the risk of exposure to harmful bacteria that may cause food poisoning by conducting knowledge questionnaires and microbial tests from food handlers’ hands, counter surfaces and kitchen cloths. Research Methods: A total of 18 secondary schools, 48 food handlers and 24 managers were included in the study. The observational, descriptive and analytical study consisted of quantitative data collection methods. Quantitative data was obtained through a food hygiene and safety questionnaire designed for food handlers and tuck shop owners/managers, an observational checklist and microbial swab tests from food handlers’ hands, counter surfaces and kitchen cloths for analysis of microbial presence before preparation, during preparation and after preparation of food. The microbes tested for were Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Listeria monocytogene, Aerobic spore formers and anaerobic spore formers. Data was captured in Excel and analyzed using a statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 24 for descriptive statistics