ABSTRACT
Background: Foodborne disease is a growing public health concern worldwide, especially among vulnerable populations. Improved understanding of food safety practices is fundamental to addressing the phenomenon. This study aimed to assess the socio-demographic factors influencing knowledge and practice of food safety among pregnant women in Ghana.
Design and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed in person to participants during data collection. Data was entered and analysed in Epi Data version 3.1 and Stata 12, respectively. Chi square test and Fischer’s exact test were used to determine association between independent variables and outcome variables (knowledge and practice). Binary logistic regression was used to test the strength of the association between independent and outcome variables at 95% confident interval. A p-value of 0.05 or less was considered significant.
Results: Findings were: about 87.06% of the respondents had satisfactory knowledge on food safety; approximately 58.2% of respondents knew how to prevent foodborne disease but about 51.18% had unsatisfactory practice about food safety; about 28.2% of participants had experienced foodborne disease before in the past 6 months. Also, employment status and period of pregnancy were found to have significant influence on food safety knowledge whereas educational level and employment status also had significant influence on food safety practice.
Conclusion: Improved understanding about food safety will not necessarily lead to high food safety practices. In the quest to effectively prevent foodborne disease, we recommend an increase in awareness creation regarding foodborne disease and its associated socio-demographic risk factors like employment status, period of pregnancy and educational level.
REFERENCES
Quinlan JJ. Foodborne illness incidence rates and food safety risks for populations of low socioeconomic status and minority race/ethnicity: a review of the literature. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2013;10:3634-52. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph10083634
Grace D. Food safety and the sustainable development goals. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI. 2017
World Health Organization. WHO estimates of the global burden of foodborne diseases: foodborne disease burden epidemiology reference group 2007-2015. World Health Organization; 2015.
Banson KE. Food safety and consumer perception to irradiated food products in Ghana. Glob Adv Res J Agric Sci 2015;4:485–92.
Osei-Tutu B, Anto F. Trends of reported foodborne diseases at the Ridge Hospital, Accra, Ghana: a retrospective review of routine data from 2009-2013. BMC Infect Dis 2016;16:1-9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-016-1472-8
Lund BM. Microbiological food safety for vulnerable people. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2015;12:10117-32. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph120810117
Trepka MJ, Newman FL, Dixon Z, Huffman FG. Food safety practices among pregnant women and mothers in the women, infants, and children program, Miami, Florida. J Food Protect 2007;70:1230-7.
Whiley H, Clarke B, Ross K. Knowledge and attitudes towards handling eggs in the home: an unexplored food safety issue? Int J Environ Res Public Health 2017;14:48. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14010048
Liu Z, Zhang G, Zhang X. Urban street foods in Shijiazhuang city, China: Current status, safety practices and risk mitigating strategies. Food Control 2014;41:212-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2014.01.027
Sharif L, Obaidat MM, Al-Dalalah MR. Food hygiene knowledge, attitudes and practices of the food handlers in the military hospitals. Food Nutr Sci 2013;4:245. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4236/fns.2013.43033
Stratev D, Odeyemi OA, Pavlov A, et al. Food safety knowledge and hygiene practices among veterinary medicine students at Trakia University, Bulgaria. J Infect Public Health 2017;10:778-82. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jiph.2016.12.001
World Health Organization. Food safety fact sheet. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2014. Available from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs399/en/
Osaili TM, Obeidat BA, Jamous DO, Bawadi HA. Food safety knowledge and practices among college female students in north of Jordan. Food Control 2011;22:269-76. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2010.07.009
Samapundo S, Climat R, Xhaferi R, Devlieghere F. Food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices of street food vendors and consumers in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Food Control 2015;50:457-66. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2014.09.010
Thanh TN. Food safety behavior, attitudes and practices of street food vendors and consumers in Vietnam. PhD Dissertation, Ghent University.
Hassan HF, Dimassi H. Food safety and handling knowledge and practices of Lebanese university students. Food Control 2014;40:127-33. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2013.11.040
Monney I, Agyei D, Owusu W. Hygienic practices among food vendors in educational institutions in Ghana: the case of Konongo. Foods 2013;2:282-94. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/foods2030282
Rahman MM, Arif MT, Bakar K, bt Talib Z. Food safety knowledge, attitude and hygiene practices among the street food vendors in Northern Kuching City, Sarawak. Borneo Science 2016;31:107-16.
Ayaz WO, Priyadarshini A, Jaiswal AK. Food safety knowledge and practices among Saudi mothers. Foods 2018;7:193. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/foods7120193
Trepka MJ, Newman FL, Dixon Z, Huffman FG. Food safety practices among pregnant women and mothers in the women, infants, and children program, Miami, Florida. J Food Protect 2007;70:1230-7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4315/0362-028X-70.5.1230
Alimi BA. Risk factors in street food practices in developing countries: A review. Food Sci Hum Well 2016;5:141-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fshw.2016.05.001
Afolaranmi TO, Hassan ZI, Bello DA, Misari Z. Knowledge and practice of food safety and hygiene among food vendors in primary schools in Jos, Plateau State, North Central Nigeria. J Med Res 2015;4:16-22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/2276-7096.139061
Rawat S. Food spoilage: Microorganisms and their prevention. Asian J Plant Sci Res 2015;5:47-56.
Annor GA, Baiden, EA. Evaluation of food hygiene knowledge attitudes and practices of food handlers in food businesses in Accra, Ghana. Food Nutr Sci 2011;2:830-6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4236/fns.2011.28114
Dah HM. Exploring the hygienic practices among kitchen staff in the training college of education: The case of Hohoe. Food Sci Qual Manage 2016;51:59–69.