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The purpose of this study is to evaluate the knowledge and practices of selected group of Polish children in early school age in terms of issues such as: (1) the principles of food preparation, storage and eating meals; (2) personal hygiene; and (3) basic information about microorganisms.

The auditorium survey method was used. The questionnaire consisted of 15 questions related to the children's knowledge of personal hygiene, the principles of food preparation and storage and the physiology of microorganisms and 13 questions related to the children's personal and food hygiene practice. In total, 169 questionnaires were collected. The study group of children had incomplete knowledge and often reported inappropriate food hygiene practices.

The subjects of food preparation and storage and knowledge of microbes were particular problem areas. By contrast, aspects related to handwashing, the appropriate practices while coughing or sneezing and washing fruit before consumption were positively evaluated. The children demonstrated the most knowledge in the field of personal hygiene. However, a very low percentage of correct answers was noted for the question about handwashing at school. None of the 13 questions related to this practice received more than 90% correct answers. The boys and girls demonstrated a comparable level of knowledge and practice in the area of food safety. It was showed that the place of school influenced answers to a greater extent compared to gender.

The results of the study play an important role in the prevention of food poisoning and are useful for the teachers, staff of training institutions and parents. They can also inspire institutions in countries with a high incidence of food poisoning to search for the causes in the inappropriate hygienic practices of young children.

The purpose of this paper is to assess hygiene practices during fish selling in retail stores.

The data were collected by observations during inspections carried out in 100 randomly selected food retail stores, both independent and chain, selling fresh fish, fish products and other seafood. Stores were located in and around the area of Warsaw, Poland. The inspection check list consisted of 43 questions based on rigorist requirements of Commission Regulation (EC) 852, 853 and Codex Alimentarius. The question form was divided into three hygiene sectors: hygiene conditions of seafood departments; hygiene of fish selling process; personal hygiene of employees. Inspections were unannounced, and were conducted by discreet visual observations of employees work routine and selling procedures.

The level of hygiene compliances with inspection criteria was unexpectedly low. The highest percentage of compliance appeared in the hygiene of fish selling processes (in 44 percent of the stores compliance with evaluated criteria was found), less one compliance levels appeared in personal hygiene (18 percent) and hygiene of seafood department’s hygiene conditions (23 percent). Neither the size of the store, nor its location and type (independent and local or global chain) affected the compliance rate.

The main research limitation is that assessment was done only by observation method. This is one of audit/inspection methods according to ISO 19011/2011, guidelines for auditing management systems. However, this kind of inspection cannot assess microbiological cleanliness or other like ATP or symptoms of diseases expect of only visible signs. The used inspection check list needs more testing and more analyses should be done for its reliability and validity.

Adequate hygiene practices are critical in preventing cross-contamination. However, none of the inspected stores ensured full implementation of all hygiene requirements during the sale of fish. The results indicated that a greater effort should be made to increase hygiene level both in small and large size retail stores. The designed inspection questionnaire proved to be a successful format for detailed evaluation of hygiene practices during the sale of fish. However, more work and analyses should be done for its reliability and validity.

The findings bring some information for the consumers that in many retail stores the hygiene level during the fish sales might be insufficient.

The paper presents additional and detailed data on hygiene practices during fish selling, which are rarely pointed out by other authors. The applied evaluation method showed a low level of compliance with the rigorous hygienic criteria, adopted in this study, that may raise some food safety concerns.

This study was aimed to determine the presence of Enterobius vermicularis in workers in hospital kitchens in Ankara, Turkey and the levels of their food hygiene knowledge

The study included 270 employees of six catering companies that cater to hospitals in Ankara who agreed to participate in the study. Two-part questionnaires were used. The first part solicited demographic information, and the second part’s questions determined the workers’ personal hygiene knowledge. Samples taken from the participants to determine the presence of Enterobius vermicularis were collected using the cellophane application method.

The parasite was found in 78.1% of the personnel. The average hygiene knowledge scores were 58.94+18.1 on a 100-point scale. The changes introduced by the new "Food Hygiene Regulation" should be implemented without abolishing the food handler examination.

Food safety is an important issue that can affect lots of people. Food handlers are an important part for contamination of food. Because of this reason their hygiene knowledge and personal hygiene are very important. Because of high rate of Enterobius vermicularis the results show that they are not careful about their personal hygiene rules. So they can contaminate to food and can cause food-borne illnesses. The paper highlights the importance of education that affects food safety practices in food industry

The purpose of this paper is to map the causal relations among various supply chain flexibility (SCF) dimensions having significant impact on the Indian personal hygiene industry.

The author(s) have gone through extensive literature review and extracted 22 SCF dimensions. After conducting field visits and expert interaction in the firm related to case industry, 11 major SCF dimensions that seem to have a significant amount of influence on supply chain performance of the firms were retained for further consideration. The author(s) have used decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) to establish initial causality and structural equation model (SEM) to investigate the contribution of different flexibility dimensions on overall SCF.

After DEMATEL analysis, three major SCF dimensions were considered for SEM modeling. The result shows that product flexibility and physical distribution flexibility have favorable influence on the SCF, while the demand management flexibility adversely impacts overall SCF.

The approach adopted in the study can help firms to determine and exercise the flexibility dimensions of a particular supply chain. The DEMATEL and SEM offer a facilitation to explain the causal relationship between the different dimensions to take long-term decisions and address the uncertainty in the demand and supply side.

This paper has made an attempt to evaluate the supply chain flexibilities, prioritize them and evaluate the relationship amongst these flexibilities and the degree to which they affect or are affected by one another in the Indian personal hygiene industry.

Menstruation is a part of the female reproductive cycle that begins with adolescence. Menstruation is a natural change; it relates to several malpractices and misconceptions that may contribute to adverse health outcomes.

The authors have searched relevant papers using Google Scholar and PubMed to write this mini review.

During menstruation, poor hygiene maintenance can cause serious illness, which includes the urinary tract and reproductive tract infection. Menstruation management is a hygienic system, and it is essential for females because poor hygiene maintenance during menstruation can cause some infections and numerous sexually transmitted diseases. There are a few nanotechnology-based products that have come into the market to offer some relief to females during their periods.

This mini review will help researchers to design innovative female hygiene products that can relieve the discomfort caused to women during their reproductive age.

The purpose of this paper is to report the hygiene and sanitation practices of restaurant food handlers of urban Vadodara, Gujarat, India.

In total, 55 food handlers were purposively selected, to study their personal hygiene and unit hygiene practices using semi‐structured questionnaire and observation schedules, from 40 small and medium‐sized restaurants of urban Vadodara. Microbial analysis of five samples, namely, hand rinse sample, table mop cloth, towel, knife and plate swabs was carried out to determine the total plate count and presence of Staphylococcus aureus, Coliform counts, Salmonella, Shigella, E. coli 0157:H7.

Most food handlers exhibited poor personal hygiene and poor personal habits. E. coli 0157:H7 was detected in two out of three knife samples and table mop cloth samples; Salmonella was detected in one of the table mops cloths and two hand towel samples, respectively. Two of the table mop cloth samples also indicated presence of Shigella.

The survey of food handlers implies gross violation of codex guidelines laid down for safe cooking and services practices for small and medium‐sized restaurants.

Consumption of foods at small and medium‐sized restaurants of urban Vadodara poses a high risk for the consumers.

This is an original study which should act as an eye opener for the food safety officers who need to enforce the food safety laws more stringently, so as to reduce the risk of outbreaks of food borne illnesses in the city of Vadodara.

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 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.

The purpose of this paper is to determine how well cooking shows promote safe food handling via TV and to suggest their use for providing good hygiene and good cooking practices examples for consumers.

Principal component analysis was applied for the multivariate statistical analysis of the cooking shows, the components being: personal hygiene, cross-contamination, cooking and storing practices and risk communication. Data were collected via a questionnaire special designed for the purpose of the study. The positive attributes were converted into numbers using a nine-point Likert scale. This conversion enabled ranking of the cooking shows as a function of the total results obtained and considering the best show as the one with the maximum score attained.

Evaluation of cooking practices by food safety professionals highlighted the most frequent safety errors and poor practices that are disseminated by the TV shows.

While the repetition of good food handling and cooking practices risks antagonizing viewers, an increase in occasional emphasis of good hygiene would be of benefit to domestic viewers and potentially improve food safety practices among the public.

This is the first study that gives an European perspective on presentation of safety practices during food handling and preparation in a range of TV cooking shows as it examines 19 such shows broadcasted in six European countries over three months. Adherence to food safety standards and introduction of a star rating system for safety practices in TV cooking shows is proposed.

Describes a survey of food safety training for staff in the retail, care and catering industry. Training provisions were evaluated against the guidance in the relevant industry guides. Additional information was collected on the managers’ perceptions of and attitudes towards hygiene training. The extent and level of training of the retail butchers, who had to comply with the licensing regulations, was better than care homes and caterers of an equivalent size. Some of the care homes were not compliant with the training requirements of the Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations. There was a similar lack of hygiene management systems in most of the catering businesses in this study but senior staff were better trained and were able to provide in‐house training to greater effect. All the businesses carried out on‐the‐job training, although in some this was restricted to induction training, the content of which was often ill defined. There was a lack of documented hygiene procedures, reinforcement strategies and very little refresher training activity. Many managers failed to provide feedback on performance, to test hygiene knowledge or praise good hygienic performance. Half of the managers were not trained to train, and often were untrained in elementary hygiene themselves. Some managers recognised that conditions in the workplace and time pressures could contribute to poor hygiene performances.