Background and aim
Informal food establishments are an important source of food due to their increased affordability of products and convenience. Food security and safety are two key factors that ...must coexist for a proper functioning of the food system. In Latin America, the safety of food is less analyzed than food security, although it is central to people’s health, as well as to their personal sustainability. Since informal food establishments are popular food sources in Latin America, this research aims to examine the presence of foodborne pathogens in food products from such establishments.
Methods
This research will be conducted as narrative literature review, collecting data from all publications in Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America between January 1, 2018, and May 31, 2023. The databases searched were PubMed and Web of Science. The search included pathogens such as bacteria, parasites and viruses. The languages of the articles assessed were English and Spanish.
Results
The analysis was based on 32 articles focusing on seven of all Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America. The pathogens found belonged either to a bacteria type, or to a parasite. No viruses were investigated within the selection of articles. The widest variety of pathogens was among bacteria. The most frequently identified bacteria belonged to the family
Enterobacteriaceae
. The food products examined ranged from animal products to fruit and vegetables, fish, seafood and already-prepared dishes or juices. The informal food establishments where the studies conducted their analyses were markets, backyard selling points, street establishments or convenience food stores.
Conclusion
Identifying pathogens in food products commercialized at different informal retail points has impacts for the safety of the food from personal sustainability viewpoint. Therefore, efforts need to be directed toward better support of the informal food sector in their provision of safe food. Further investigation could trace the exact sources of infection, while public health officials can implement safety programs in cooperation with food vendors.
Objectives:
Neither the current assessment tool of Sri Lanka for food establishments is based on prevailing Food Regulations 2011 nor did its focus cover serious adaptions for precautions upon ...prevention of the diseases. The study aims to develop a food handling practices assessment tool based on the Sri Lanka Food Regulations 2011 and to assess food handling practices using a developed tool in the Regional Director of Health Services area, Kalutara.
Methods:
The study consisted of developing food establishments’ assessment tool (FEAT) in accordance with Food (Hygiene-1742/26) Regulations of Sri Lanka 2011 and assessing the food establishments using the developed tool in the Regional Director of Health Services area, Kalutara, Sri Lanka. The development of FEAT was carried out to mark inspection scores for food establishments conforming to Food Regulations, others reviewed international food safety protocols and agreements following key informant interviews and focus group discussions. Fully developed FEAT was transferred to a mobile application for ease of use, and assessments were conducted among 421 food establishments in three Medical Officer of Health areas.
Results:
FEAT contained 11 domains including 75 items with more than 100 assessment points including a guide to conducting an assessment of food handling, compared to the current version of the assessment tool in Sri Lanka. The majority of participants included in the qualitative assessment agreed to include a 1–5 scoring scale to report hygiene levels and to use hygiene regulation to develop FEAT as a legal basis. The highest percentage of food establishments (69.4%) in the “Good” category were in the Bandaragama Medical Officer of Health Area and the highest percentage of food establishments (54.5%) in the “very poor” category were in the Walallawita Medical Officer of Health Area. Food establishments taking precautionary measures, which are not assessed in the current tool, were good, but maintenance of processing area and installation of overhead structures and fitting were poor in food establishments in all three Medical Officer of Health Areas.
Conclusions:
The novel food assessment tool FEAT is a completely valid instrument for food establishments. It is designed for easy administration and supports reliable assessments. Overall food handling practices of food establishments in the Kalutara Regional Director of Health Services area following assessment with FEAT were in the “satisfactory” category.
Summary
In food establishments, cleaning and disinfection programmes contribute to provide the environmental conditions that are necessary for the production of safe and healthy food. Compliance with ...validated programmes is evaluated through verification activities, in order to establish, through objective evidence, if they are implemented as they were written and if they are effective, achieving continuous improvement of the sanitation programmes. In accordance with the specific guidelines of each country, food companies set up their technical specifications and develop their own cleaning and disinfection programmes. Depending on the analytical method used, one of the main challenges was to establish a reasonable limit of acceptability according to the impact that each surface has on the safety and hygiene of the food that is prepared. This review was focused on the procedures implemented to verify the cleaning and disinfection programmes in food establishments. In particular, this study examines the methodologies used (audits and analytical methods), sites for the collection of samples, acceptance criteria and main findings. The results of the analysed studies constitute a scientific basis for designing or improving sanitation procedures and their verification in food companies, and also provide relevant information for food safety authorities.
•The study has been able to remove and recover phosphorus in SSFE wastewater.•Phosphorus from three SSFE wastewaters was precipitated as phosphate compounds.•Water quality parameters indicate a ...substantial enhancement in the wastewater.•The phosphorus content is within the superphosphate fertilizer category.•Significant removal and recovery process of phosphorus in wastewater is observed.
An essential nutrient that regulates growth is phosphorus. Excess phosphorus in the bodies of water causes eutrophication and impairs the quality of water resources. The supply of phosphorus is projected to be depleted in the next century since it is from non-sustainable mineral deposits. Phosphorus is extracted by the weathering of rock naturally and by the process called strip mining. One of the alternatives to sustain the phosphorus resources is to recover the phosphorus in wastewater. The study aimed to remove and recover the phosphate from SSFE wastewater by chemical precipitation. The phosphates from food establishment wastewater were successfully removed and recovered by the precipitation process using magnesium chloride as precipitant, the form of phosphorus recovered is a phosphate compound. Different SSFE wastewaters were gathered from different locations. The average removal efficiency of phosphate from SSFE 1 is 67.11 ± 0.22 % while the efficiency from SSFE 2 is 64.96 ± 0.62 % and from SSFE 3, the removal efficiency of 68.62 ± 0.48 % was obtained. The percent removal efficiencies of the three small-scale food establishment wastewater sources have no significant difference which means that the variations from the three sources of wastewater are not far from each other. The quality of the wastewater in terms of pH, DO, and phosphate content has been improved while the TDS slightly increased. Data obtained indicates that chemical precipitation can remove and recover phosphorus from SSFE wastewater. This study serves as a smart step for many food establishments to begin treating their wastewater with an alternative, inexpensive, and simple method.
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Food safety is crucial to avoid foodborne illness and improve human wellbeing. Millions of people get sick, and many of them pass away due to eating unhealthy food. Foodborne diseases are still a ...public health problem in developing countries like Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to assess food handlers' practices and associated factors in public food establishments in Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia. Across-sectional study was conducted among 417 food handlers in food and drink service establishments. The data were collected using a structured interview-administered questionnaire and an observational checklist. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify predictors. The prevalence of food safety practice among food handlers was 37.6%, with a 95% CI of (32.9, 42.7). More than half of the study participants had good knowledge and attitude. Sex (female) AOR = 0.40, 95%CI: (0.23, 0.92), educational status (diploma and above) AOR = 1.50, 95%CI: (1.21, 3.10), and good attitude AOR = 0.25 95%CI: (0.12, 0.89) were predictors of food safety practices. The prevalence of food safety practices among food handlers in Gondar food establishments was low. The provision of education and on-the-job training on food safety and personal hygiene is advised to enhance good food handling practices.
The primary objective of this study was to assess factors associated with food safety practices among food handlers in Gondar city food and drinking establishments. The facility-based cross-sectional ...study was undertaken from March 3 to May 28, 2018, in Gondar city. Simple random sampling method was used to select both establishments and the food handlers. The data were collected through face-to-face interview using pre-tested Amharic version of the questionnaire. Data were entered and coded into Epi info version 7.0.0 and exported to SPSS version 22 for analysis.
One hundred and eighty-eight (49.0%) had good food handling practice out of three hundred and eighty-four food handlers. Marital status (AOR: 0.36, 95% CI 0.05, 0.85), safety training (AOR: 4.01, 95% CI 2.71, 9.77), supervision by health professionals (AOR: 4.10, 95% CI 1.71, 9.77), routine medical checkup (AOR: 8.80, 95% CI 5.04, 15.36), and mean knowledge (AOR: 2.92, 95% CI 1.38, 4.12) were the factors significantly associated with food handling practices. The owners, managers and local health professionals should work on food safety practices improvement.
Consumers' health would be at risk unless food safety is safeguarded by food handlers in establishments. The study aimed to investigate food safety practices and its determinants using a ...cross-sectional study conducted on 420 food handlers in Ethiopia Ambo Town. Logistic regression analysis was adopted to analyze the data. A total of 415 food handlers participated with a response rate of 98.8 %. About 48.6% of the respondents had good food safety practices. The adjusted odd ratio (AOR) and confidence interval (CI) of having food safety training AOR = 6.05, 95% CI: 3.49–10.49, medical check-ups AOR = 2.07, 95% CI: 1.11–3.86, inspected by health professions AOR = 2.26, 95% CI: 1.32–3.88, work experience AOR = 4.71, 95% CI: 2.11–10.50, and good food safety knowledge AOR = 2.25, 95% CI: 1.32–3.86 were significantly associated with food safety practices. Poor food safety practices were assessed in Ambo Town, Ethiopia.
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•Poor food safety practices were reported in the study area.•Good food safety knowledge is more likely to perform good food safety practices.•Health experts have a significant role in enhancing good food safety practices.
ObjectivesFood handlers are individuals who are involved in food preparation, storage or service of food in a food facility. Unless they keep their personal hygiene, they are highly responsible for ...contaminating food or transmitting microbes to consumers. Thus, the main aim of this review was to pool the level of good food handling practice among food handlers working in public food establishments in Ethiopia.DesignA systematic review and meta-analysis using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal tool.Data sourcesPubMed, Google Scholar and Advanced Google were searched up to the end of February 2021.Eligibility criteria for selecting studiesPublication status, publication language, type of study participants and the type of article were used to screen the article.Data extraction and study quality assessmentAll reviewers collected data independently and merged them together. A tool called the JBI Meta-Analysis of Statistics Assessment and Review Instrument was used to assess the quality of each research article. The assessment was performed by two reviewers.ResultA total of 16 research articles were included in the review. The pooled level of good food handling practice was 50.72% with 95% CI (43.84% to 57.6%). Training (adjusted OR (AOR)=3.4, 95% CI (2.33 to 4.95)), attitude (AOR=3.62, 95% CI (2.23 to 5.85)) and medical check-up (AOR=5.12, 95% CI (2.93 to 8.95)) were identified as factors affecting good food handling practice with 95% CI at p<0.05.ConclusionThe level of good food handling practice among food handlers working in public food establishments of Ethiopia was very low compared with literature, and variables such as food handler training, attitude towards good food handling practice and the existence of regular medical check-ups were factors affecting good food handling practice. Provision of training that could change the attitude and regular medical check-ups for food handlers has to be in place.
We developed a quantitative risk assessment model using a discrete event framework to quantify and study the risk associated with norovirus transmission to consumers through food contaminated by ...infected food employees in a retail food setting. This study focused on the impact of ill food workers experiencing symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting and potential control measures for the transmission of norovirus to foods. The model examined the behavior of food employees regarding exclusion from work while ill and after symptom resolution and preventive measures limiting food contamination during preparation. The mean numbers of infected customers estimated for 21 scenarios were compared to the estimate for a baseline scenario representing current practices. Results show that prevention strategies examined could not prevent norovirus transmission to food when a symptomatic employee was present in the food establishment. Compliance with exclusion from work of symptomatic food employees is thus critical, with an estimated range of 75–226% of the baseline mean for full to no compliance, respectively. Results also suggest that efficient handwashing, handwashing frequency associated with gloving compliance, and elimination of contact between hands, faucets, and door handles in restrooms reduced the mean number of infected customers to 58%, 62%, and 75% of the baseline, respectively. This study provides quantitative data to evaluate the relative efficacy of policy and practices at retail to reduce norovirus illnesses and provides new insights into the interactions and interplay of prevention strategies and compliance in reducing transmission of foodborne norovirus.
Foodborne illness is a major public health problem worldwide. The supply of safe and healthy food is crucial to prevent foodborne illness. However, evidence regarding food safety knowledge and ...handling practice is limited in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to assess food safety knowledge, handling practice, and its associated factors among food handlers in Debre Markos Town, North West Ethiopia.
An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 408 randomly selected food handlers at Debre-Markos town. A structured questionnaire and an observational checklist were used to collect relevant data. The main outcome of interest was food safety and handling practice. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify the factors significantly associated with food safety knowledge and food handling practice. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 25.
In this study, only 34.1% of food handlers had good food safety knowledge and nearly 54% of food handlers had good food handling practice. Level of education (AOR = 0.23 (0.14-0.57)), training on food safety (AOR = 5.13 (3.57-7.82)), and favorable attitudes towards food safety (AOR=2.54 (1.52-4.25)) were the factors associated with knowledge of food safety. Similarly, training (AOR=2.05, 95% CI=1.31-3.19), a good level of knowledge (AOR: 1.68, 95% CI: 1.40, 3.17), and work experience (AOR = 1.24, 95% CI: 1.10-2.81) were positively associated with good food handling practice.
In this study, the level of food safety knowledge and handling practices were relatively low. Therefore, the concerned bodies should work on the identified factors to improve food handlers' knowledge of food safety and practice level. Continuous training for food handlers should be given.
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