Effect of good hygiene practices intervention on food safety in senior secondary schools in Ghana

Abstract

Get rights and content Highlights•Good hygiene practices intervention in the form of training improved kitchen staff hygiene awareness scores.•Staff temperature and time monitoring for ready to eat (RTE) meals' significantly improved after training.•Microbiological contaminants (ACC, coliforms, yeast and moulds, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus) in RTE meals reduced with a significant reduction in Aerobic Colony Count (ACC) and Staphylococcus aureus levels after training. AbstractEleven schools in three different hygiene categories were given hygiene training as an intervention to reported low hygiene standards. Staff hygiene knowledge scores, food temperature, food service time and microbiological quality of jollof rice (cooked rice in tomato sauce and fish) were measured before and after the intervention. Descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon's Signed-Rank Test for repeated measures on SPSS were used to evaluate the effect of GHP intervention. Staff hygiene knowledge and practice scores, food temperature, aerobic colony count (ACC) and Staphylococcus aureus load in ready to eat (RTE) meal improved significantly (p≤0.05). Food hygiene training remains an essential legal and industrial requirement.

Implementation of good hygiene practices in food trucks with and without the intervention of a food safety expert

“…The intervention group, which was aided by an external food professional, showed greater improvement than the control group in the second evaluation. These results are similar to the ones found in the studies by da Cunha et al (2013) and Ababio et al (2016) Although positive adjustments were observed in the second evaluation, the adequacy of Categories 5 and 8 remained low in the control group. Furthermore, Category 8's adequacy percentage was also low in the intervention group.…”

“…The intervention group, which was aided by an external food professional, showed greater improvement than the control group in the second evaluation. These results are similar to the ones found in the studies by da Cunha et al () and Ababio et al () in schools; Serafim et al () in hotels; de Jesus et al () in a food transport company; Stangarlin‐Fiori et al () in hospital feeding units; and Barjaktarović‐Labovic et al () in the food industry. Therefore, the aid of a food safety expert contributes effectively to the implementation of good hygiene practices in the food truck and other foodservice segments.…”

“…Considering the need to improve hygiene and sanitary control in the street food segment, that is, food trucks, the implementation of good hygiene practices in foodservices is required to establish a preventive food safety program (Serafim et al, 2015;Stangarlin-Fiori et al, 2016). This measure aims at improving hygiene and sanitary procedures and enhances safety in the stages of preparation and commercialization of food (Ababio, da Taylor, Swainson, & Daramola, 2016;Brasil, 2004;Olmedo, Stangarlin-Fiori, Medeiros, Tondo, & Ferreira, 2018).…”

Good hygiene practices in hospital nutrition services: the view of internal and external auditors

“…Studies conducted in food establishments also revealed significant improvements after an intervention strategy, suggesting that the companies adopt these programs in a continuous manner, because they help to motivate the work staff and thus lead to continuity in compliance with the Good Hygiene Practices (Rodrigues et al, 2012;Cunha et al, 2013;Ababio et al, 2016). Therefore, up-to-date, systematic and impartial information allows a change in behavior of individuals and identifies errors that may not be perceived during work routines, minimizing the risk of food contamination (Faour-Klingbeil et al, 2015).…”

“…Studies conducted in food establishments in Brazil and other countries have revealed that after the implementation of Good Hygiene Practices there was a decrease in non-conformities with hygienic-sanitary criteria and positive changes in the behavior of administrators and food handlers (Rodrigues et al, 2012;Ababio et al, 2016). Nevertheless, the implementation of the program can be harmed by the absence of technical knowledge among those who are responsible for the establishment, or by the fact that the people with technical responsibility for food handling are accustomed to the existing non-conformities in the work environment (Faour-Klingbeil et al, 2015).…”