Abstract:
Food safety is a global issue that is critical to public health, and accurate
knowledge of safe food practices by food handlers can save the lives of many
consumers. The purpose of this study was to examine knowledge, attitude,
practices and knowledge-practice gaps. Also, to assess level of compliance to
food safety standards microbial quality of food samples from hotels in the
Central and Western Regions of Ghana. A mixed method design for was
employed. All the 21 available hotels were involved in the study with 205
food handlers, 10 managers/chefs and 18 regulators. Data was gathered using
questionnaire, interview guide and observation checklist. Also, samples of
food were collected from the various hotels to determine their microbial
quality. Frequencies and percentages, means and Wilcoxon signed ranked test
were employed to analyse the research questions. The food handlers'
knowledge on food safety was moderate (58%; mean score 0.619 ± 0.169).
Also, 82% of the food handlers portrayed positive attitude towards food
safety, while only 42.8% demonstrated good food safety practices. There was
a significant variance between knowledge-reported practice such that food
handlers' food safety knowledge did not reflect in their daily practices. Many
(50%) of the hotels did not comply with the Food and Drugs Authority code
on provision of facilities due to poor monitoring and supervision and lack of
funds to procure the equipment. Also, lack of resources and collaboration
among the regulatory agencies affected their regular visits to the hotels for
inspection. Therefore, there is need for collaboration among the three
regulatory agencies to adopt measures to improve monitoring and supervision
activities to enhance the food safety practices of food handlers to prevent food
contamination and protect public health.
