Background The adoption and evaluation of good practices in food handling in food service are essential to minimizing foodborne diseases. The present study aimed to evaluate food safety knowledge, attitudes, and practices of food handlers in schools in Vitória, Brazil. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out in the school food services of the municipal network of Vitória-ES. The sample of food handlers was obtained by convenience and comprised food handlers involved with preparation and other kitchen-related activities. The instrument consisted of a structured questionnaire with 36 six questions that included sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) related to good practices and food safety. The questionnaire was answered by 172 food handlers. Pearson correlation test, T-test, Tukey’s test and multiple linear regression analysis were conducted. Data entry and analysis were done using SPSS v.20 software. Results Most of the participants were female (96.5%, n = 166), were 40 to 49 years old (44.8%, n = 78), attended high school (57.9%, n = 99), had up to 5 years of experience in the role (39.5%, n = 68). Some of them had participated at least 4 times in training (74.4%, n = 128) of which the most recent session had occurred within 3 months (52.0%, n = 44). The lowest score was obtained for knowledge (7.1 ± 1.22). All the models presented significant results for the F-test. This result show good model fit and results ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 on the Durbin Watson test of residual autocorrelation. The linear regression analysis allowed us to identify that the knowledge score increased with experience, but it was significant only for those who had spent up to 10 years in the role. The knowledge score was associated with experience and training time. Attitudes were significantly related to the schooling and training time. The increase in the classification of practices is shown only through a classification of attitudes. Conclusions Although the food handlers’ knowledge level in general was considered as sufficient, it was inferior to their scores for attitudes and practices regarding certain food safety concepts. Food safety training is ongoing in these units and covers the main aspects that favour the transformation of knowledge into appropriate attitudes and practices.

Objetivo: Avaliar o nível de conhecimento, atitudes e práticas de manipuladores de alimentos de serviços de alimentação. Materiais e Métodos: Trata-se de estudo transversal feito com manipuladores de alimentos de 15 serviços de alimentação, sendo que participaram da pesquisa 75 indivíduos. Foi aplicado um questionário contendo questões sociodemográficas e para avaliação do conhecimento, atitudes e práticas (CAP). O questionário autoaplicável continha 30 questões relacionadas às boas práticas na manipulação dos alimentos. Foi considerada adequada a nota igual ou superior a 70 % para a avaliação de cada bloco e do questionário por completo. Os dados foram analisados com auxílio do software SPSS, versão 22. Resultados e Discussão: 64% dos manipuladores exerciam atividades em restaurantes comerciais e 84% eram do sexo feminino. Quanto ao nível de escolaridade, 52% dos manipuladores tinham o ensino médio completo. Quanto às questões sobre CAP, no bloco de conhecimento e atitudes foram observadas menores pontuações quando comparado ao bloco de práticas. A média de pontuação no questionário foi igual a 54,9 ± 4,18. Falhas quanto ao entedimento e conhecimento sobre cuidados com os alimentos podem diminuir o nível de consciência sobre manipulação adequada e culminar em uma falsa ideia de segurança. Conclusão: Os manipuladores apresentaram falhas na avaliação do conhecimento; ressalta-se, assim, a necessidade de treinamento, de modo a agregar informações para promover melhorias de desempenho nas atividades executadas.DOI: 10.12957/demetra.2018.30528

The objective of this work was to analyze the hygienic and sanitary conditions of 52 school kitchens and to investigate the microbiological contamination of surfaces that contact food. A specific checklist was used to classify the units' health risk. Microbiological samples were collected from utensils, bench, and equipment in 10 units to evaluate the contamination levels of these surfaces. In total, 3.8% of the evaluated units had a very low health risk, and 61.5% had a low sanitary risk, indicating that most of the sites were adequately sanitary. Important failures have been identified in the block of buildings and facilities. Inadequacies related to hand hygiene, the absence of the manual of good practices and environmental hygiene were also highlighted. Microbiological analyses resulted in high counts of aerobic mesophiles and enterobacteria. Intervention with the involvement of all the actors of the National School Feeding Program is suggested for improving the situation. Practical applications This study is important, since it carried out the survey of the information regarding the adoption of good practices and sanitary conditions in the food production in the school environment, considering the relevance of the subject and vulnerability of the attended public. In this way, such information may guide corrective and preventive actions in the face of observed situations.

A avaliação do consumo alimentar é fundamental para a identificação de inadequações e o fornecimento de orientações que contribuam para o controle metabólico do diabetes. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a qualidade da dieta de indivíduos diabéticos tipo 2, usuários de uma Unidade de Saúde da Família do município de Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brasil. Para avaliação do consumo alimentar foi aplicado o questionário The Block Screening Questionnare for Fat and Fruit/Vegetable/Fiber Intake. O diagnóstico nutricional foi obtido com base no Índice de Massa Corporal e da circunferência da cintura. A amostra foi composta por 23 indivíduos, com idade de 53 ± 6,3 anos, entre os quais 74% apresentaram obesidade e risco aumentado para complicações metabólicas segundo a circunferência da cintura; 65,2% evidenciaram baixo consumo de gordura e baixo consumo de frutas, vegetais e fibras. Não houve associação significativa entre os escores de consumo alimentar e as variáveis antropométricas. Concluiu-se que os diabéticos deste estudo manifestaram baixo consumo de fibras associado à obesidade e ao aumento da adiposidade abdominal, os quais podem comprometer o controle da doença e favorecer as comorbidades inerentes ao diabetes. Palavras-chave: Diabetes mellitus. Consumo alimentar. Avaliação nutricional. Saúde da família.