Culinary Nutrition Literacy and Knowledge among Restaurant Food Production Staff in Ghana

Abstract

While the ail of cooking tasty and well garnished food may be a pleasurable activity, food providers must be mindful of their role towards the wellbeing of their customers. They must, therefore, consider the nutritional aspect of the food they prepare and merge that with their culinary skills. This study assessed nutrition literacy and knowledge based on evidence from 497 food production staff in restaurants using a cross-sectional study design. It was revealed that the five leading sources of nutrition information were the internet, television, nutrition textbooks, cookbooks and the radio. The study also revealed the deficiencies in the level of culinary nutrition knowledge among the respondents. Their level of confidence in making culinary nutrition decisions was found to be generally moderate and varied significantly across the socio-demographic characteristics. The confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the respondents possess moderate functional literacy but high interactive and critical nutrition literacy. This suggests that not everyone proceeds in a hierarchical manner in attaining the optimal level - Critical Nutrition Literacy. It is recommended that tailored nutrition information to the respondents should take cognisance of the individual differences in their nutrition literacy skills. The language used in the dissemination of nutrition information targeting this group should also be diversified especially for the non-print sources incorporating the local dialect. Additionally, nutrition policies and interventions should be geared towards enhancing nutrition knowledge and increasing the confidence production staff in order for them to make culinary nutrition decisions for the wellbeing of their customers. Finally, this study serves as a basis for further assessment of literacy and knowledge in culinary nutrition.