Abstract:
In the school catering setting, food handlers particularly those in boarding
senior high schools are considered the most sensitive group responsible for all
forms of contamination resulting in various forms of food-borne illnesses. The
purpose of the study was to assess food safety in selected Senior High Schools
in the Ho Municipality. Questionnaire and observation checklist were used to
gather data on the food safety knowledge and practices of 97 food handlers
recruited from boarding secondary schools registered with the Ghana
Education Service in the Ho Municipality. Sixty food samples collected from
the schools were also analyzed to determine their microbial quality. Chi-square
statistic was used to establish the relationship between food safety knowledge
and the socio-demographic characteristics of food handlers. The results showed
that majority of food handlers had high knowledge in food safety issues but
their practices did not reflect this level of knowledge. Among the major
barriers that accounted for the gap between knowledge and practice were
inadequate provision of equipment and resources, irregular water supply as
well as inadequate space and the unenclosed nature of the kitchen. These
subsequently influenced the microbial quality of prepared foods served to
students. It is recommended that closer and more stringent supervision during
food preparation processes in boarding secondary schools should be carried out
by the Ho Municipal Assembly to prevent possible outbreak of food-borne
illness in the future. Also, health education should be carried out by the Ho
Municipal Assembly together with the school authorities to improve the food
safety knowledge and hygiene practices of food handlers.
