Personal hygiene assessment and awareness of restaurant food handlers in Ampang (Selangor, Malaysia)

Kamaludin, Abyan Hazimah (2019) Personal hygiene assessment and awareness of restaurant food handlers in Ampang (Selangor, Malaysia). [Project Paper]

Text lp FPSK4 2019 10 2.pdf Download (43MB)

Abstract

Introduction: Food handlers' malpractices are reported as the main source of foodborne outbreaks during food preparation for public consumption in food services. Food handlers are in charged in serving safe food for public customers. The key factor of foodborne disease is the microbiology hazard. Objective: To understand the bacterial contamination (Salmonella Typhi, Shigella species and Escherichia coli) and personal hygiene awareness levels (knowledge, attitude and practice) among restaurant food handlers in Ampang (Selangor, Malaysia). Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted among 114 restaurants food handlers in Ampang, Selangor using simple random sampling method. Questionnaire was used to assess the personal hygiene awareness level (knowledge, attitude and practice) and hand swabbing was conducted to assess bacterial contaminant (Salmonella Typhi, Shigella species and E. coli) in restaurant food handlers' hand. Result and discussion: The restaurant food handlers in Ampang (Selangor) have good knowledge level (87.6%) of personal hygiene and moderate level for attitude (76.2%) and practice (76.6%) part. However, the total awareness level (knowledge, attitude and practice) were not directly indicate the bacterial occurrence on food handlers' hands as there were the presence of bacteria with Shigella (81.6%) was the highest followed by E.coli (34.2%) and Salmonella (14.9%). The study also revealed that there were no significant differences between the awareness level with bacterial (Shigella and Salmonella) occurrence in restaurant food handlers. However, there was significant association between the knowledge level of food handlers and E.coli in restaurant food handlers' hands. Conclusion: The importance of the personal hygiene should be emphasized by every food handlers and also the monitoring authorities of the food premises. It could help in increasing the hygiene level of the restaurant, and reduce the risk of bacteria transmission on food for consumers. Keywords: hand swabbing, personal hygiene, restaurant food handlers

Item Type:	Project Paper
Faculty:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Science
Depositing User:	Ms Norafizah Radzuan
Date Deposited:	24 Jun 2025 06:57
Last Modified:	24 Jun 2025 06:57
URI:	http://psaspb.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/2424

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