Knowledge about food safety and handling practices – Lessons from the Serbian public universities
, , , y | 28 jun 2022
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Article Category: Research Article
Publicado en línea: 28 jun 2022
Páginas: 145 - 154
Recibido: 21 jun 2021
Aceptado: 29 abr 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sjph-2022-0020
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© 2022 National Institute of Public Health, Slovenia, published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.
Mean scores for self-reported food handling practices and food safety knowledge sections per demographic characteristics.
| Demographic variables | Self-reported food handling practices |
Food safety knowledge |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean±SDa | Sig.* | Mean±SDa | Sig.* | |
| Age | 18 | 44.7±13.2 | 0.370 | 0.127 |
| 19 | 44.8±14.4 | |||
| 20 | 43.2±14.4 | |||
| 21 | 42.8±13.6 | |||
| 22 | 43.5±15.1 | |||
| 23 | 44.4±15.0 | |||
| Gender | Male | 43.4±13.8 | 0.001 | 0.113 |
| Female | 47.4±14.3 | |||
| Field of study | Health-related | 48.8±13.3 | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Non-health-related | 42.9±13.8 | |||
| Year of study | First | 42.3±13.7 | 0.635 | 0.07 |
| Second | 44.3±13.9 | |||
| Third | 45.8±14.7 | |||
| Fourth | 48.4±14.1 | |||
| Campus | Novi Sad | 45.8±15.1 | 0.251 | 0.316 |
| Belgrade | 44.5±13.8 | |||
| Niš | 44.1±12.9 | |||
| Residence area | City/Town | 55.8±15.1 | 0.006 | 0.112 |
| Suburban area | 51.3±14.3 | |||
| Rural area | 32.5±19.1 | |||
| Residential status | Parents | 48.6±12.7 | 0.909 | 0.009 |
| Friends/roommates | 44.9±15.1 | |||
| Alone | 46.1±14.3 | |||
| Cooking habits | Daily | 48.1±15.7 | 0.605 | 0.001 |
| Sometimes | 45.3±15.1 | |||
| Rarely | 43.9±13.8 | |||
| Never | 43.1±14.1 | |||
| Maternal employment | Works | 48.1±15.1 | 0.05 | 0.09 |
| Housewife | 45.1±14.8 | |||
Demographic characteristics of the study population (N=930).
| Demographic variables | %a | |
|---|---|---|
| Gender | Male | 45.1 |
| Female | 54.9 | |
| Age group | 18-20 | 67.9 |
| 21-23 | 33.1 | |
| Field of study | Health-related | 30.8 |
| Non-health-related | 69.2 | |
| Year of study | First | 4 |
| Second | 41.1 | |
| Third | 29.8 | |
| Fourth | 25.1 | |
| Campus | Novi Sad | 32.4 |
| Belgrade | 43.5 | |
| Niš | 24.1 | |
| Residential area | City | 51.2 |
| Suburb | 38.5 | |
| Rural area | 10.3 | |
| Cooking habits | Cook daily | 9.6 |
| Sometimes | 33.4 | |
| Rarely | 30.7 | |
| Maternal employment | Never | 26.0 |
| Works | 30.7 | |
| Housewife | 69.3 |
Score distribution for questions related to food safety knowledge.
| Questions | Multiple-choice responses | Correct | responses | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Novi Sad | Belgrade | Niš | ||
| (17) Which of the following scenarios for | 82.7% | 81.3% | 80.1% | |
| cleaning kitchen counters is the BEST? | Sanitizer, then water | 8.2% | 8.2% | 8.7% |
| Brush, then sanitizer | 4.9% | 5.9% | 5.7% | |
| Water, then drying | 2.5% | 2.9% | 1.8% | |
| (18) While washing your hands, it | 10 seconds | 24.1% | 23% | 23.1% |
| is enough to rub them for…? | 32.7% | 33.4% | 30.7% | |
| 30 seconds | 27.4% | 28.7% | 25.9% | |
| 40 seconds | 5.2% | 4.3% | 4.7% | |
| (19) Freezing kills harmful germs in food. | True | 31.0% | 29.3% | 30.2% |
| 67.8% | 69.1% | 67.2% | ||
| (20) Which food is the LEAST | Baked potato left on the kitchen counter overnight | 27.8% | 27.3% | 26.1% |
| likely to cause food poisoning? | Leftover chicken eaten cold | 16.3% | 15.8% | 16.1% |
| 37.1% | 38.6% | 36.9% | ||
| Slices of pizza left on the counter overnight | 17.1% | 16.6% | 18.8% | |
| (21) What is the recommended | 72.5% | 73.4% | 72.1% | |
| temperature for freezers? | 18°C | 4.2% | 3.9% | 4.1% |
| 8°C | 5.9% | 5.6% | 5.7% | |
| 0°C | 14.2% | 13.9% | 14% | |
| (22) What is the recommended | -4°C | 11.3% | 10.3% | 9.9% |
| temperature for fridges? | 4°C | 68.2% | 67.9% | 67.8% |
| 12°C | 10.1% | 11.1% | 10.7% | |
| 16°C | 6.6% | 6.3% | 6% | |
| (23) Which food does NOT | Fruit salad | 4.8% | 4.5% | 4.3% |
| need to be refrigerated? | Open can of peas | 6.9% | 6.4% | 6.1% |
| 82.2% | 80.2% | 79.9% | ||
| Chocolate pudding | 6.1% | 5.5% | 5.7% | |
| (24) How can food be made safe if | 65.9% | 66% | 65.7% | |
| it has salmonella bacteria in it? | Freeze it for 3 days | 7.3% | 7% | 7.1% |
| Such food cannot be made safe | 5.2% | 4.9% | 5% | |
| Don’t know | 19.3% | 19.6% | 19.9% | |
| (25) For a burger to be safe to | 52°C | 12.4% | 11.4% | 12.9% |
| eat, it needs to be cooked until its | 33.1% | 33.6% | 32.9% | |
| internal temperature reaches: | 121°C | 27.3% | 28.7% | 29.3% |
| 130°C | 10.4% | 9.4% | 8.4% | |
| (26) The microorganisms that cause | 62.8% | 63.5% | 62.1% | |
| most foodborne illnesses are: | Viruses | 9.9% | 10.9% | 9.1% |
| Parasites | 8.4% | 8.9% | 8% | |
| Fungi | 14% | 13.8% | 15.1% | |
| (27) Which of these individuals should | 10.1% | 9.9% | 9.7% | |
| NOT prepare food for other people? | A person with severe acne | 19.7% | 22.1% | 20.1% |
| A person with HIV | 14.5% | 13.1% | 17.1% | |
| A person with a cold | 51.8% | 49.8% | 46.3% | |
| (28) Which food do pregnant women, | Soft cheeses | 38.4% | 39.9% | 36.1% |
| infants, and children need NOT to avoid? | Raw or undercooked eggs | 14.1% | 13.7% | 11.3% |
| Undercooked hot dogs | 2.6% | 1.3% | 4.6% | |
| 41.3% | 42.9% | 44.1% | ||
| (29) Which of these individuals are the | Old people | 13.1% | 16.1% | 15.1% |
| LEAST likely to get food poisoning? | Pregnant women | 8.3% | 14.9% | 10.6% |
| 63.7% | 60.7% | 59.9% | ||
| Cancer patients | 14.9% | 8.3% | 12.1% | |
| (30) Most disease-causing bacteria can | 30.7% | 31.3% | 29.9% | |
| grow within a temperature range between: | 20-40°C | 39.1% | 40.3% | 37.9% |
| 40-60°C | 13.9% | 8.9% | 16.3% | |
| 30-70°C | 8.8% | 10.8% | 7.9% |
Score distribution for questions related to self-reported food handling practices.
| Questions | Multiple-choice responses | Correct responses |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Novi Sad | Belgrade | Niš | ||
| (1) At home, what is most practiced after | Use the board as it is | 1.8% | 3.3% | 3.4% |
| using a cutting board to slice raw meat | Wipe the board with a paper towel | 1.9% | 3.4% | 3.6% |
| and need to cut tomatoes afterwards? | Wash the board with soap and water | 36.1% | 45.9% | 40.4% |
| 60.9% | 54.1% | 50.5% | ||
| (2) On campus, how do you dry | Paper towel | 87.1% | 87.8% | 85.6% |
| your hands after washing them? | Hot air electrical dryer | 5.9% | 5.2% | 6.9% |
| Leave them to dry on their own | 2.9% | 2.3% | 3.4% | |
| 2.1% | 2.7% | 2.1% | ||
| (3) In the fridge (not freezer) of your | Top shelf | 57.4% | 56.1% | 56.9% |
| house, where is the raw meat stored? | Medium shelf | 8.4% | 5.8% | 6.7% |
| 30.2% | 34.2% | 31.7% | ||
| (4) If you have a sore on the back of | Yes, but after putting a bandage on it | 33.6% | 34.9% | 35.1% |
| your hand, do you prepare food? | Yes, but after putting on a glove | 12.1% | 15.6% | 15.6% |
| 29.4% | 28.1% | 27.9% | ||
| No, I do not prepare food until the sore heals | 23.1% | 19.4% | 17.6% | |
| (5) When you cut raw meat and need to | Reuse the knife as it is | 1.4% | 2.2% | 3.2% |
| use the knife again, what do you do? | Rinse the knife with cold water | 17.5% | 15.0% | 16.1% |
| 76.1% | 78.1% | 77.3% | ||
| Wipe the knife with a cloth | 3.2% | 2.9% | 1.9% | |
| (6) Do you take off jewelry | 79.3% | 76.8% | 75% | |
| when preparing food? | No | 19.1% | 21.5% | 23.4% |
| Not applicable | 1.4% | 1.3% | 1.1% | |
| (7) At home, how do you check | By checking the color | 40.1% | 35.9% | 39.3% |
| that a burger is cooked enough? | By checking the firmness | 36.1% | 40.0% | 38.4% |
| 8.7% | 8.1% | 8% | ||
| By checking the cooking time | 12.1% | 11.5% | 11.1% | |
| (8) At home, you fry eggs until the: | Egg white is solid and the yolk is semi-solid | 24.2% | 22.8% | 23.9% |
| Egg white and yolk are semi-solid | 7.3% | 6.7% | 8.8% | |
| 56.2% | 58.3% | 57.7% | ||
| (9) During your supermarket | At the beginning of shopping | 7.2% | 9.6% | 10.2% |
| shopping, when do you place | About halfway through the shopping | 8.4% | 10.2% | 11.9% |
| refrigerated meat in your cart? | At the end of the shopping | 59.7% | 57.5% | 54.2% |
| It does not matter | 22.8% | 20.6% | 22.8% | |
| (10) At home, how do you defrost | Heat it in a microwave | 17.2% | 12.7% | 18.9% |
| frozen meat/chicken? | Put it under running water for 1 h | 14.3% | 19.7% | 18.1% |
| Leave it on the kitchen counter for 1h | 38.5% | 31.2% | 33.1% | |
| Leave it in the fridge for a few hours | 28.8% | 26.5% | 27.1% | |
| (11) Do you have a thermometer | Yes | 55.2% | 53.7% | 54.6% |
| in your fridge? | No | 43.7% | 44.2% | 44.3% |
| (12) If your roommate or family member | In the fridge | 30.1% | 27.3% | 38.5% |
| is going to be several hours late for a hot | In a cool oven | 24.2% | 22.5% | 23.1% |
| meal, where do you leave the meal? | In a warm oven | 32.3% | 37.8% | 39.7% |
| On the counter | 13.0% | 12.5% | 9.6% | |
| (13) When preparing food, you wash your | Your face | 36.9% | 33.4% | 32% |
| hands after touching which of these? | Clean pots and counter | 9.1% | 8.6% | 7.1% |
| Utensils being used in food preparation | 33.7% | 31.2% | 31.7% | |
| I do not wash my hands after touching any of the above | 15.7% | 15.2% | 14.8% | |
| (14) At home, how do you treat | Dip them in water and salt | 5.8% | 5.9% | 5.7% |
| fresh fruit and vegetables? | Wash them with soap | 16.7% | 16.9% | 16.6% |
| Wash them under running water | 71.4% | 70.9% | 71.1% | |
| Boil them | 3.5% | 3.7% | 3.8% | |
| (15) How often is the kitchen sink | Daily | 52.1% | 48.6% | 46.7% |
| drain in your home sanitized? | Weekly | 23.9% | 24.4% | 22.1% |
| Never | 2.9% | 2.4% | 3.9% | |
| Only when I wash food in the sink | 10.1% | 12.6% | 13.8% | |
| (16) How do you wash your hands | Soap and water | 97.1% | 97% | 96.9% |
| before cooking or eating? | Water only | 1.5% | 1.4% | 1.3% |
| Hand sanitizer | 0.9% | 1.1% | 1.2% | |
| I do not wash my hands | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.2% | |
Sample design research data.
| Collection method | Self-administrated questionnaire | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sampling unit | Students over 18 years of age | ||
| Novi Sad | Belgrade | Niš | |
| 3.8% | 5% | 3.2% | |
| 95% | 99% | 95% | |
| 140,500 per year | |||