Food safety knowledge, hygiene practices, and eating attitudes of academics and university students during the coronavirus (COVID‐19) pandemic in Turkey

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of the coronavirus (COVID‐19) pandemic on food safety knowledge, hygiene practices, and eating attitudes of academics and university students in Turkey. A cross‐sectional survey invitation was emailed to the participants from various academic ranks and departments at chosen universities from different region of country. Academics were requested to forward the invitation email to enrolled students to their classes. Responds were accepted in the period of 45 days in April and May 2020 during this pandemic. The relationships between socio‐demographic factors (gender, marital status, parental status, faculty/student status, academic rank, and age) and food safety knowledge, hygiene practices, and eating attitudes of respondents were determined. Academics ( n = 240) and university students ( n = 479) responded to food safety knowledge statements with similar percentages during the coronavirus pandemic. Improved hygiene practices were observed for both groups to avoid disease during the coronavirus pandemic. Both groups had eating attitudes toward consumption at home due to the coronavirus pandemic. Gender was the most prominent factor associated with 9 out of 10 hygiene practices before and during the coronavirus pandemic ( p < .05). No, single, and multiple socio‐demographic factors were in association with food safety knowledge or eating attitudes of respondents. This study indicates that reactions of both academics and university students are similar during the coronavirus pandemic for food safety‐associated knowledge, practices, and attitudes.

Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Medical Students at the University of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

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Developing a risk management framework to improve public health outcomes by enumerating and serotyping Salmonella in ground turkey

“…Finally, all consumer handling studies were performed before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which is believed to have significantly increased consumer hygiene practices (i.e. hand washing) [ 41 , 42 ] with a potential effect on the cross-contamination model assumptions and reduction in the illness estimates.…”

Covid-19 Pandemi̇ Süreci̇ni̇n Gida Tüketi̇m Davranişi Ve Hi̇jyen Alişkanliği Üzeri̇ndeki̇ Etki̇si̇

“…While the rate of individuals who know that COVID-19 is a viral infection is 68%, the rate of those who do not take precautions against this factor is 3.8%. While 54.4% of the respondents reported that they had the COVID-19 PCR test, 19.4% of them stated that they were positive. The rate of those who think that the agent is not transmitted through food, but can be transmitted through food packaging, was determined as 39.8%.…”