Assessment of Behavioral Precursors to Food Safety Practices Among Food Handlers in a Tertiary Care Hospital in New Delhi, India

TL;DR

This study examines food safety behaviors of hospital food handlers in New Delhi, finding that training and education significantly improve knowledge, attitudes, and practices.

Contribution

The study identifies training and job role as key predictors of food safety practices among hospital food handlers.

Findings

Training was the strongest predictor of improved food safety knowledge, attitudes, and practices.

Education status and job role significantly influenced food safety attitudes and practices.

Behavioral interventions in educational institutions could improve food safety practices.

Abstract

Background: Food safety behavior modification among food handlers is pivotal to build capacity, prevent, detect, and respond to threats associated with unsafe food handling.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess behavioral precursors to food safety practices among food handlers in a tertiary care hospital in New Delhi, India.

Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2022-23 among 111 food handlers working in a tertiary care hospital in Delhi, using a pre-tested interview schedule based on the World Health Organization (WHO) food safety manual to assess behavioral precursors regarding food safety and their interrelationships. The scores obtained were graded into good, fair, and poor, and were analyzed for possible associations.

Results: The mean age of study participants was 38.64 ± 15.59 years. The majority of study participants had poor knowledge (70.3%), attitudes (88.3%), and practices (89.2%) (KAP). Training was the strongest predictor of food safety KAP, with significant positive effects across all models (β = 0.40, 0.38, 0.40; p < 0.01). Education status and work experience also showed significant associations contributing to improved food safety practices. The nature of the job significantly impacted attitudes (p = 0.04) and practices (p = 0.05), suggesting that different roles require structured interventions. The overall R² values (knowledge: 0.42, attitudes: 0.38, practices: 0.40) indicate that these predictors explain a substantial portion of the variance in KAP scores. Attitude scores were found to be significant between categories of the nature of the job (p = 0.04). Practice scores were found to be significant between various categories of educational status (p = 0.001) and categories of nature of job (p = 0.05).

Conclusion: The study assesses the possibility of evidence-based food safety interventions in educational institutions like teaching hospitals/colleges to identify knowledge gaps, address attitudinal barriers, and promote best practices through behavior modification to safeguard public health and enhance consumer confidence in the food service industry.

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