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The purpose of this paper is to identify knowledge gaps in terms of food handling and hygiene among a population in a selected city district.

This study is a part of the project Community Health Management to Enhance Behaviour (CHANCE), (Lifelong Learning Programme of European Union 2007‐2009). A certain vulnerable group, i.e. older people, were addressed. The study population was recruited by convenience sample. A questionnaire was used to collect data among citizens in a selected city district (n=251). The elderly (71‐80+; n=123) were interviewed face to face, while the younger (21‐70 years; n=128) filled in their data on their own.

One third of the respondents usually measure the temperature in their refrigerator. However, one third revealed knowledge gaps relating to storage temperature for certain food items. Thirty nine per cent changes dishcloths once a week. Twenty per cent of the elderly usually put raw minced meat into their mouth to taste the seasoning without reflecting on pathogenic bacteria. There was no significant relation between the fear of food poisoning and tasting minced meat, changing the dishcloth often, or cooling down food properly. These results can be interpreted as a sign of knowledge gaps, indicating a need for improved health communication.

The study population consisted of consumers in a selected city district in Uppsala municipality. Therefore the results should not be generalized for Swedes in general.

The collected data and the information of knowledge gaps have been used to perform a local health intervention. The results would reveal relevance for a larger nationwide survey that aims to identify knowledge gaps in terms of food handling and hygiene among Swedish citizens.

Data from the present study would be useful in the attempt to implement simple tools at the local level, in order to promote healthy habits among consumers.

An innovative principle in the EU project CHANCE is to work from the inside out. Studies of consumers' food handling in private homes are lacking in Sweden. The present study is rather unique as it explores private households in terms of food handling and hygiene.

The issues of microbial food poisoning are never far from the headlines. Of particular concern is the emergence of strains of increased virulence, for example Escherichia coli 0157. As we are likely to be faced with a succession of food hygiene challenges in our kitchens, do consumers have access to the information they need and is it presented in such a way that it encourages and motivates towards good food handling and food hygiene practices? This paper concentrates on a range of food hygiene information provided by the Government, the Health Education Authority and the media. The information is examined with respect to availability, content and context. Observations are made from sociological, scientific and visual communications perspectives.

This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the compliance of hygienic and technical standards of street food vendors in Slovenia with the requirements of the general hygienic food principals set in the Codex Alimentarius and Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs.

Food vendors were observed directly and discretely using a semi-structured observation sheet that allowed fast evaluation. The employee's behaviour was not affected during the observations because they were not aware of being observed. Each observation lasted approximately 30 min. Food vendors were divided into groups according to their location, type of facility, number of employees and type of food sold.

Depending on the type of street vendor, more inconsistencies were found amongst food stands compared to food trucks and kiosks. Most food trucks and kiosks scored very high in both personal and hygienic-technical standards. Some of the major inconsistencies were lack of suitably located washbasins, improper hand-washing technique, improper waste management, working surfaces that were inadequately separated from consumers, and inconsistent maintenance of the cold chain. Food handlers have been confirmed as a critical risk factor.

Despite methodology validation, the data was collected by a single observer, limiting the ability to obtain a more reliable estimate of the observations. The sample was disproportionate according to the type of street food facilities.

The results provide a basis for (1) national professional guidelines of good hygiene practices for food business operators, which should cover street food vendors more extensively in future updates, and (2) the development of food safety training programmes tailored for street vendors.

The study provides valuable insights into current hygienic-technical conditions of the street food vending sector.

The purpose of the current paper is to investigate the determinants of hygienic food handling behaviour using the health action process approach (HAPA) and to examine if the volitional components of the model or the addition of past behaviour could explain additional variance in behaviour.

A prospective four‐week study investigating the predictive ability of HAPA variables and past behaviour was used. At time 1, 109 participants completed self‐report questionnaires regarding their action self‐efficacy, risk awareness, outcome expectancies and intentions to hygienically prepare food and past behaviour. At time 2, participants returned a follow‐up questionnaire, which measured behaviour, planning, maintenance and recovery self efficacy. Structural equation modelling was used to compare three versions of the HAPA model.

The first model showed that intention was a significant predictor of behaviour explaining 40 per cent of the variance and was the best fit. The second model, which included the volitional components of the HAPA model, did significantly increase the proportion of behaviour explained. The third model, which included past behaviour, increased the variance explained but was not a superior fit to the previous two models.

The results of this study confirm that aspects of the HAPA may be useful in determining hygienic food handling behaviour. However, volitional variables do not appear to be important in this behaviour. The implications of this for future research and interventions are elucidated.

The current study is one of the first to use the HAPA model to predict hygienic food handling behaviour.

Three events of significance to this country took place in 1899 – the British Food Journal was launched, Australia retained the Ashes, and the Boer War hostilities commenced. If challenged on the order of their importance, cricketers and Empire‐builders may be excused their preference. However, looking at it purely from the standpoint of pro bono publico, the dispassionate observer must surely opt for the birth of a certain publication as being ultimately the most beneficial of the three.

The purpose of this study is to explore food safety measures in catering and special event programs, especially with respect to the knowledge and implementation of knowledge of food handlers in the catering sector in the USA.

A quantitative approach was utilized in this study. A questionnaire was distributed to 557 respondents, representing over 40 chapters in the National Association of Catering Executives. The questionnaire was divided into three sections of food safety (food handling, equipment, and personal hygiene). This study utilized t‐tests and ANOVA to test for differences between gender, training, management status, and employment status with regard to food safety knowledge and practices.

Results suggested that employees in the catering industry who work part‐time need more training and development. Management was seen as more knowledgeable than non‐management personnel and was seen to have more training. Overall the study found that there is a need to focus on training for employees, with even greater emphasis for new employees.

The results of this study provide significant evidence that greater emphasis must take place to require proper training of all employees in the catering sector. An educational training program that focuses on the catering sector can be developed by utilizing the usable factors gained from this research.

The present study provides a national survey representing a large geographic area of the USA, and focuses on catering servers, front‐line staff, and management in the special event industry. This study also combines the safety issues of equipment, personal hygiene, and food handling into one study as a whole to examine the overall knowledge of catering employees in the industry.

In order to improve the safety of seafood in the domestic seafood distribution chains (DSDCs) in Vietnam, a better understanding of current hygiene and practices compliance with government regulations is needed. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Infrastructure conditions and documents related to hygiene procedures of 50 trading places were evaluated using checklists. The hygiene handling practices of 135 fish distributors were also observed by using notational analysis methods. This notational analysis method focused on actions related to microbiological contamination in terms of hand washing or glove changing and the cleaning and sanitising of tools and equipment. Additionally, microbiological quality of 135 samples of raw finfish at points along distribution chains was compared with national standards.

The results indicated that all trading places could be classified as non-compliant or seriously non-compliant with the regulations. The practices of fish distributors were also assessed to be at high risk for contamination of raw fish. The findings showed that approximately 42 and 39 per cent of samples from fishing ports and fish markets, respectively were classified as unacceptable according to the microbiological standards of Vietnam.

The present study is limited to research only from fish landing at fishing ports to the distribution to consumers at retail markets.

Recommendations for improving food safety in the DSDCs in Vietnam have been developed from the findings of this study and are provided. However, due to similarities with fish distribution chains in other countries, these recommendations may have broader application.

Strengthening awareness and education to address food safety problem is of importance. The purpose of this study is to investigate food safety knowledge and opinion among Serbian students and the efficiency of education on their self-reported behaviour as consumers.

A questionnaire on the attitudes and self-reported behaviour of students was completed by 414 students at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade, Serbia. The questions covered hand hygiene; cross-contamination; conditions of food cooling; and knowledge of risky food. Students were divided into two groups: students in their first and second year of study (1–2 YoS) who had not attended any subjects related to food safety during their education; students in the third and fourth years of the Food Technology Program (3–4 YoS) who had completed one or more courses concerning food safety during their education.

Overall, there were significant differences in the opinions of 1–2 YoS students and 3–4 YoS students on most issues. It was noted that male students are at higher risk when it comes to food handling. Considering the significant impact of education as evidenced by the opinions of 3–4 YoS students, it can be concluded that education is effective in raising awareness and changing behaviour among young people.

The study identified how education affects students' opinion and food handling. Moreover, it highlighted the areas of deficiency in students' food safety behaviour, knowledge and attitudes. Limited research has been conducted on food safety knowledge among students.

Food safety knowledge and hygienic practices by food handlers play an important role in the prevention of contamination of food prepared.

This descriptive survey was conducted in Maseru around the taxi ranks amongst 48 food handlers and 93 consumers using a semi-structured questionnaire for assessing food handler knowledge, attitudes and practices, open-ended questionnaire for obtaining consumer perceptions and observation checklist.

Majority of the food handlers were females (60%) and males constituted only (40%). The mean age was 35.5 ± 10.3 and 28.2 ± 9.9 respectively for street vendors and consumers. There was a statistically significant difference in knowledge among the trained and untrained vendors (p = 0040). On average the vendor population that participated in this study was considered to have poor knowledge (scores < 50%) of food safety since they scored 49% ± 11, while 84% of the respondents were considered to have positive attitudes towards food safety. Only 6% of the consumers reported that they never buy street vended foods mainly due to the hygiene issues. The observation checklist showed that the vendors operated under unhygienic conditions and that there was scarcity of clean water supply and hand washing facilities.

This study provides knowledge that was previously unknown about food vending in Lesotho. It has significantly added to the body of knowledge on food safety in Lesotho which can be used to modify policies and structure food safety training for people involved in the informal trade.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the good manufacturing practices in meal services in public schools and day care centres in Baixada Santista, Brazil using a health risk classification.

A total of 59 public schools and day care centres in nine municipalities of Baixada Santista – Brazil were randomly selected. The sanitary conditions were evaluated by applying a validated checklist specific to school meal service. The questions were scored according to the health risks detected. A percentage of conformity to good manufacturing practices was calculated, than schools and day care centres were classified according to health risk in relation to the scores obtained for each thematic area addressed in the checklist and in relation to the overall score.

It was observed that 62 per cent of the schools were classified as average health risk failing to comply with Brazilian legislation on food safety rules. The thematic areas that showed lower percentage of conformity to good manufacturing practices were: hand hygiene (33.9 per cent), pest control (3.4 per cent), food handlers (62.4 per cent) and food hygiene (65.4 per cent). The school meal service of day care centres presented higher conformity in the hand hygiene (p<0.01) and the environmental sanitation (p<0.05) than elementary schools.

The data observed in our study highlight the need of an effective system to monitor and evaluate the hygienic sanitary conditions in Brazil. The implementation of HACCP system may be an option with good potential to produce safer meals in school environment, nevertheless, the prerequisite program must be implemented first. Professionals with expertise in food safety can act as consultants to the school meal service and may use the data from this study as a benchmark for interventions.

This paper contain new information related the state food safety practices of Brazilian school meal service. It also presents the use of scores to determine risk. The use of health risk is a novel way to evaluate the food safety practices in school meals facilitating the implementation of corrective measures.