Knowledge and Practices of Food Safety among Health Care Professionals and Handlers Working in the Kitchen of a Moroccan University Hospital

Food safety plays a key role in the prevention of foodborne illnesses. Mastery of the correct way of handling food is required especially in hospitals where meals are prepared for patients with low immune function. Food safety knowledge among doctors and dieticians is important because of the fundamental role these professionals play in transferring this knowledge to people who need it. The objective of this study was to assess food safety knowledge and practices among health care professionals and food handlers working in the kitchen of a Moroccan university hospital. This cross-sectional study included 72 doctors, dieticians, hygiene technicians, and hospital kitchen employees, who completed a questionnaire to assess their knowledge on hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) systems, food poisoning, cross-contamination, and food storage and their practices in terms of food safety. Of the participants in this study, 56% said they had received food safety training, and 74% knew the correct definition of HACCP. The overall food safety knowledge mean score was 0.54 +/- 0.15, which corresponds to 54% of questions answered correctly. The food safety knowledge areas with the highest mean scores were cross-contamination and food storage, with 0.58 +/- 0.20 (58%) and 0.55 +/- 0.20 (55%), respectively. The food safety knowledge scores for dieticians and hygiene technicians were higher than those for hospital kitchen workers and doctors. Knowledge about food storage was significantly associated with gender, age, occupation, and level of education (P < 0.05). Correct food practices were observed among 93% of the hospital kitchen staff and 50% of the health care professionals. These results indicate the need for preventive and corrective actions such as training and education about food safety to improve the knowledge and food safety practices of hospital professionals.