AWW proved to be effective change agents and FSE was successful in bringing about a positive behavior modification in mothers.

The World Health Organization regards illness due to contaminated food as one of the most widespread health problems in the contemporary world. Food safety especially in the weaning groups is one of the major concerns that have posed a threat to health of the children. Millions of children in the world die each year from diarrheal diseases; hundreds of millions suffer from frequent episodes of diarrhea and consequent impairment of nutritional status. Contaminated foods play a major role in the occurrence of diarrheal diseases. Apart from food contamination, transmission of infection occurs by direct contact, highly favored by the habits and customs of the people. Improper storage and handling of cooked food is equally responsible for food-borne illnesses, as during storage especially at ambient temperature (28-38 degrees C) there is the risks of multiplication of pathogenic organisms increase. Food safety education is a critical prerequisite and is an essential element in control and prevention of diarrheal diseases. However, no preventive measures can ever be successful without the acute involvement of the caretakers, other family members and the community. To sensitize the community in a catalytic manner, health workers, community leaders and community volunteers can act as effective change agent, to bring about a behavior that can lead to improvement in their real life practices, thereby reducing the prevalence of diarrheal episodes in young children. Food Safety Education Programs that involve volunteers are cost effective as they can be reached to a maximum number of people through limited health personnels, and by this, the community can be made responsible for its own health problems.

Resistant Starch (RS) is prebiotic in nature and is defined as the sum of starch and products of starch degradation not absorbed in small intestine of healthy individuals but later are fermented by natural microflora of the colon to produce short chain fatty acids. RS acts as a nutraceutical and its consumption leads to many health benefits. The aim of the study is to analyze the RS content in raw and processed cereals and cereal products and determine various processing and storage effects on the RS content. RS content in raw cereals ranged from 0.53 g% (pearl millet)-2.09 g% (rice). Of all the processing techniques applied in the study, roasting, baking and boiling increased the RS content followed by shallow frying. Steaming and frying showed a decrease in RS content. The puffed, flaked and extruded cereal products obtained from market when analyzed also showed very less retention of RS content. Storage of different cereal products at 4°C up to 12 and 24 h significantly increased RS content. Amylose showed a higher correlation with RS in maize produces than in other cereal products.

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Hazards and critical control points were identified during the preparation, feeding and storage of weaning foods fed to the children (6-24 months) belonging to low income group (LIG) families using survey methods, spot and indepth observations and microbial analysis. High microbial counts were obtained for the weaning food samples procured from the families that were rated as poor for both personal hygiene and environmental sanitation. Food samples that were held at ambient temperature (25-35 degrees C) showed high counts of coliforms, AMCC, yeast and mold, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus. Spice mixtures and mop samples also revealed high counts for all these organisms. Coliforms were not isolated from the water samples of all the 10 households. However, a high count of Bacillus cereus (10(3-5)/ml) was observed in water samples of two selected households. The hazards and critical control points identified were high initial contamination of raw foods, poor environmental sanitation and personal hygiene, feeding of overnight moist foods stored at ambient temperature and insufficient steaming of these foods.