Effect of food handling habits on food safety in catering units in Public University in Kenya

Abstract

Catering unit employees often washed hands after using the toilet, covered all cuts and burns, always kept their hands off hair, nose and open wounds and did not sneeze in the food areas. Food handling habits significantly influence and predicts food safety. The most important finding of the study is the empirical evidence about existence of statistically significant positive relationship between food handling habits and food safety. This could imply that public university catering units which enhance their food handling habits congruently are likely to increase food safety. However cases of lack of sealed polythene bags and stagnation of liquid waste due to blockage or careless handling were observed. This could explain the sporadic cases of diarrheal outbreaks that are at times reported in universities health units. Conclusively, there is a direct relationship between food handling habits and food safety in public university catering units.