A profile of foodservices in Curitiba and a critical analysis of the results of sanitary inspections at these establishments

This study aims to assess food safety knowledge and practices of food handlers in popular public restaurants in Brazil. A questionnaire has been applied with 70 food handlers in different municipalities, with questions related to food safety knowledge and food safety self‐reported practices, and observed practices. To check hygienic‐sanitary conditions of restaurants, a checklist has been applied. Regarding food safety knowledge, an average of 72.64% of correct answers has been observed. Food safety self‐reported practices presented 80.71% of adequacy, while observed practices were 75.40%. A positive correlation has been observed between food safety knowledge and self‐reported practices of handlers. The observed food safety practice of handlers presented no correlation with food safety knowledge and self‐reported practices. The average adequacy of hygienic‐sanitary conditions was 68.08%, classifying the units as “regular.” Despite satisfactory results related to the handlers' food safety knowledge and practices, the hygienic‐sanitary conditions of the restaurants are of concern.Practical applicationsThe Popular Restaurant Program in Brazil aims to provide proper food from a nutritional and hygienic‐sanitary aspect at affordable prices. The assessment of food handlers' food safety knowledge and practices and the assessment of hygienic‐sanitary conditions of these units are key in supporting actions aimed at improving the quality of the meals served, as food handlers are the essential agents in the production of meals and can become a source for food contamination if necessary care is not taken. Therefore, conducting this assessment can be an important tool for quality management in these units and can provide improvements in the process of food handling, in addition to ensuring compliance with the objectives proposed by the Popular Restaurant Program.

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food safety in Brazilian popular public restaurants: Food handlers’ knowledge and practices

Souza

Azevedo

Seabra

2018

“…Currently, food producers and retailers have the necessity to systematize data collection, in order to identify and evaluate precisely weak cold chain links, such as transportation and inspection during the process of importing food (Zubeldia, Jiménez, Claros, Andrés, & Martin‐Olmedo, ). As it was reported (Olmedo, Stangarlin‐Fiori, Opolski Medeiros, Tondo, & Ferreira, ), in this study most irregularities were referred with physical structure and daily work procedures, where cold chain temperature was not prioritized. Consequently, the fact of training professionals within these groups of food inspectors leads to increase their knowledge about sharing the responsibility of having the best environment for food inspection.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 57%

Profile of inspectors and protocols applied to imported food in inspections stations

Maldonado‐Simán

Martı́nez-Hernández

Zaragoza-Ramírez

et al. 2019

To characterize food inspection agents, facilities and protocols in the importation of food, a questionnaire was applied to agents at six Mexico's entry ports, 91 (76%) agents returned complete questionnaires. Data analysis was by χ2. Over 80% of agents had bachelor's degree; 75% with two or less years on the job; 81%, 35 years old or younger; and, 52 to 79% examined other products besides food of animal origin. Over 60% of the agents took more than 20 minutes for document and shipment inspections and 10% run their inspections at temperatures above the recommended for food conservation with 33% of them unaware of the negative consequences in food safety when breaking food cold chain at the inspection process. Six sources of food cold chain break while under inspection were identified. Agents require further training on maintenance and importance of food cold chain and protocols should be improved. Practical applications The core of this study is to provide a discussion of the profile of Mexican food inspectors, facilities, and implementation of inspection protocols related to the maintenance of the food cold chain, to define a baseline upon which the need of training on specific strategies of shipment handling to keep food safety and quality.

“…Considering the need to improve hygiene and sanitary control in the street food segment, that is, food trucks, the implementation of good hygiene practices in foodservices is required to establish a preventive food safety program (Serafim et al, 2015;Stangarlin-Fiori et al, 2016). This measure aims at improving hygiene and sanitary procedures and enhances safety in the stages of preparation and commercialization of food (Ababio, da Taylor, Swainson, & Daramola, 2016;Brasil, 2004;Olmedo, Stangarlin-Fiori, Medeiros, Tondo, & Ferreira, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite its benefits, the implementation of good hygiene practices in foodservices may be hindered by the following factors: (a) lack of technical training; (b) poor commitment by food handlers (de Jesus, Serafim, Medeiros, Peixoto, & Stangarlin-Fiori, 2016;Olmedo et al, 2018;Rebouças et al, 2017); (c) low financial resources (Rebouças et al, 2017); (d) insufficient time for the program implementation; and (e) inappropriate habits of staff in relation to daily procedures (de Jesus et al, 2016;Stangarlin-Fiori et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementation of good hygiene practices in food trucks with and without the intervention of a food safety expert

Lima

Medeiros

Dardin

et al. 2019

Self Cite

This study evaluated the implementation of good hygiene practices in food trucks with and without the intervention of a food safety expert. Fifty‐three food trucks were divided into control group and intervention group. The study was carried out in three stages: (a) evaluation of good hygiene practices in both groups through a list of categories and development of an action plan; (b) participation of a food safety expert in the intervention group; and (c) second assessment of good hygiene practices in both groups. At the latter stage, both groups showed significant improvements on average. The intervention group presented greater progress in the last evaluation, with significantly higher adequacy percentages (p < 0.05) in all categories evaluated. The control group showed improvement in only 50% of the categories. These results revealed the importance of food safety experts in the implementation of hygiene practices in foodservices. Practical applications The aim of this work was to evaluate the implementation of good hygiene practices in food trucks with and without the intervention of a food safety expert. Compliance to hygiene practices increased significantly when food safety consultants participated in the program. The results presented here contribute to raising awareness among food truck owners and staff on the importance of investing in food safety experts to ensure an effective implementation of good hygiene practices and accordingly reduce contamination risks in these establishments.