Knowledge, attitudes and practices of workers on food hygienic practices in meat processing plants in Fars, Iran.

摘要

This cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and practices of food workers in four meat processing plants in the Fars province, southern Iran. A self-administered, structured questionnaire was designed and completed by 97 food workers during November 2006-January 2007. Results indicated that the respondents had acceptable level of knowledge, excellent attitudes and poor practices toward food hygiene measures. Almost all of the food workers (97.9%) were aware of the critical role of general sanitary measures in the work place while there was lack of knowledge about microbial food hazards in the majority (67-78%) of them. A significant negative correlation was observed between knowledge and practices (rs = -0.20, P = 0.04), and attitudes and practices (rs = -0.27, P = 0.009), revealing that increased knowledge and even attitudes toward food safety does not always result in positive change in food handling behaviors