The escalating number of foodborne diseases and food poisoning outbreaks demand a better call for improved food‐handling practices. Hospices are typically described as nongovernmental organizations that offer palliative care to terminally ill patients. The majority of hospice food handlers are not trained in food safety aspects, and services are offered on a voluntary basis. In this study, a descriptive survey design comprising of semistructured questionnaire was utilized to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the hospice food handlers (n = 100) in hospices around Central South Africa. More than half of the participants (68%) had not taken basic food safety training. The average percentage of the correct answers on the knowledge questionnaire was 66.8%. The participants had a mean age of 35 years (SD = 9.27). Attendance of food safety course had a significant effect on both the practices of using gloves to touch or distribute unwrapped foods (χ2 = 8.411, p‐value = .012), and washing hands after using gloves (χ2 = 12.560, p‐value = .001). The overall KAP mean score was 78.38. A statistically significant difference was found between the trained and untrained food handlers regarding food safety knowledge (p < .001). There was substantial lack of knowledge regarding the correct temperature for a refrigerator including hot ready‐to‐eat food.

Food safety is often threatened by the intended or unintended introduction of contaminants. Street foods are susceptible to microbial, chemical and physical contaminants. Due to their ubiquitous existence in the environment, heavy metals are among the majority of food material contaminants and they are believed to have carcinogenic properties. Heavy metals have been a source of contamination in the informal food value chain mainly due to their bioaccumulation and existence in voluminous amounts. Several factors account for the rate of contamination and the continued failure to prevent it. Carcinogens such as lead and arsenic are often present in high levels in some vended foodstuffs, and their prolonged ingestion could have injurious effects on consumer health. Heavy metal contamination in street-vended foods sometimes occurs as a result of leaching from poorly designed or old and inadequately cleaned utensils. Moreover, aluminium pots used in cooking may leach aluminium ions, especially when acidic foods such as grains and seafood are cooked.

PurposeFood safety knowledge and hygienic practices by food handlers play an important role in the prevention of contamination of food prepared.Design/methodology/approachThis 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.FindingsMajority 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.Originality/valueThis 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.

Housefly (Musca domestica) is an excellent candidate for the distribution of susceptible and resistant bacterial strains that potentially threaten public health. To date, there is a paucity of information on the global distribution of pathogenic bacteria of medical and veterinary importance from diverse environmental settings. Therefore, this study was undertaken to conduct a systemic review and meta-analysis to estimate occurrence of various bacterial species of medical and veterinary importance harboured by houseflies around the world. Published articles from 1980 to 2020 were retrieved from electronic databases and assessed for eligibility according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systemic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines.Seventy-eight studies were included in the review with only 44 studies being eligible for meta-analysis. Results indicated that eligible studies used in this review were from four continents, i.e., Asia (47.4%) America (23.1%), Africa (20.5%) and Europe (8.9%). The majority of the studies (56.4%) used the culture method for the identification of bacterial pathogens, while 30.7% used both culture and PCR techniques. For meta-analysis, we focused on five pathogenic bacterial species including Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecium, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. High heterogeneity was found among studies investigating different pathogens including E. coli (Q = 10,739.55; I 2 = 99.60; Q-p 0.0001), E. faecium (Q = 317.61; I 2 = 86.46; Q-p < 0.0001), K. pneumonia (Q = 1,576.61; I 2 = 97.27; Q-p < 0.0001), S. aureus (Q = 2,439.12; I 2 = 98.24; Q-p < 0.0001) and P. aeruginosa (Q = 1,283.0; I 2 = 96.65; Q-p < 0.0001). Furthermore, it was observed that houseflies carried a considerable number of susceptible and antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains that pose considerable threats to public health. Findings from this study have provided more insight on the vectoral potential of houseflies in the transmission of significant bacterial pathogens from different regions across the world. Further investigation is required to quantify the bacterial contamination and dissemination by houseflies.

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Escherichia coli, Clostridium perfringens and Salmonella spp. are enterotoxic, ubiquitously distributed bacteria. Diseases caused by these pathogens are well recognized in humans, livestock, companion and zoo animals and can result in morbidity, mortality, and significant economic losses. The aim of the study was to identify and simultaneously amplify enterotoxigenic E. coli; Salmonella spp. and C. perfringens using multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Bacterial DNA was isolated from faeces of captive animals, birds (n=17), primates (n=6) and antelopes (n=26) using the Zymo Research Faecal DNA kit. The overall frequency of bacterial isolation was 8%. This low frequency could have resulted from the highly standardized management carried out at the zoo as well as other factors such as lack of contact with other animals and spatial buffers.

Mastitis is a cow disease usually signalized by irritation, swelling, and soreness of the udder. It is characterized by physical, chemical, and biological changes in the udder and milk. The aim of this study was to detect and characterize pathogens causing subclinical mastitis (SCM) from the milk of dairy cows of small-scale farmers through culture and molecular techniques. Milk was collected from 32 cows belonging to 8 small-scale farmers around Harrismith District, South Africa. The results showed that screening of SCM by California mastitis test and somatic cell counts (SCC) was 21.87 and 25%, respectively. Culture methods revealed the presence of Staphylococcus aureus at 93% followed by Streptococci spp. and Escherichia coli at 36.4 and 13.3%, respectively. The PCR could only detect E. coli, while single-molecule real-time sequencing showed a total of 2 phyla, 5 families, 7 genera, and 131 species. Clostridiaceae was the most abundant family, while Romboutsia was the most abundant genus followed by Turicibacter spp. The present study has documented the occurrence of SCM causing pathogens in milk collected from cows of small-scale farmers in Harrismith, indicating that SCM may be present at higher levels than expected.