Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices Toward Food Safety Among Students in Bangladesh: A Cross-Sectional Study

Exploring food safety knowledge, attitudes, and practices of nursing and medical students: Insights from a cross‐sectional study in Bangladesh

“…Students' attitudes on food safety were found to be substantially associated with factors like gender, institution type, family monthly income, academic year, and mother's level of education, which is consistent with recent studies (Ali et al, 2023; Azanaw et al, 2021; Hassan & Dimassi, 2014; Lazou et al, 2012; Luo et al, 2019; Osei Tutu et al, 2020). Gender, residential status, academic year, fathers' educational level, past food poisoning experiences, and knowledge of Bangladesh's food safety authority all had an impact on the food safety practice score (Ali et al, 2023; Azanaw et al, 2021; Hassan & Dimassi, 2014; Lazou et al, 2012; Luo et al, 2019; Osei Tutu et al, 2020). Additionally, participants' scores on their food safety attitudes were related to their practice scores.…”

“…These findings align with studies conducted in Lebanon, Ethiopia, Greece, and Ghana (Azanaw et al, 2021; Hassan & Dimassi, 2014; Lazou et al, 2012; Osei Tutu et al, 2020). In addition, the findings corroborate those of a recent study (Ali et al, 2023) conducted in Bangladesh, which found that a person's food safety knowledge level strongly influences their attitudes and practices. Students' attitudes on food safety were found to be substantially associated with factors like gender, institution type, family monthly income, academic year, and mother's level of education, which is consistent with recent studies (Ali et al, 2023; Azanaw et al, 2021; Hassan & Dimassi, 2014; Lazou et al, 2012; Luo et al, 2019; Osei Tutu et al, 2020).…”

“…Possible disregard for adhering to the highest level of best practices include not using a cutting board for raw meat, poultry, shellfish, or vegetables; not washing hands after counting money; processing food while experiencing diarrhea; consuming food or drink at work; and working without gloves, which is consistent with earlier studies (Azanaw et al, 2021). In contrast, practices such as washing hands with soap and water before handling and cooking food, washing hands with soap and water after touching raw meat, poultry, and seafood, washing hands before eating, washing hands after using the toilet, cleaning the work area before beginning the work, checking the shelf life of foods at the time of purchase, and storing food according to food labels are reported to be followed by the majority of nursing and medical students, which is higher than previous studies (Ali et al, 2023; Azanaw et al, 2021; Luo et al, 2019). These findings suggest that while respondents display a reasonably good understanding of personal hygiene, food preparation, cooking, and cross‐contamination, their self‐reported practices do not entirely support it (Tuglo et al, 2021).…”

“…Nearly all participants (96.2% nursing and 96.6% medical students) were concerned about food safety in Bangladesh, which is similar (93.56%) to a recent study of 777 students (not nursing and medical students) from Bangladesh [31] and higher than a Chinese study of nursing (46.3%) and medical (50%) students (Luo et al, 2019). According to our findings, approximately 90% of respondents expressed concern about pesticide residues in vegetables, well‐cooked foods being free of contamination, covering their mouths while coughing and sneezing to avoid contaminating foods, the importance of monitoring the fridge's temperature, the state of food safety in the school cafeteria, the safety of food in restaurants near the school, and their willingness to learn more about food safety, which is higher than the recent study from Bangladesh (Ali et al, 2023) and China (Luo et al, 2019). Similar to a prior study, 60%–70% of them expressed concerns about the contamination of food with heavy metals, the transfer of plasticizers in food containers, and the excessive consumption of monosodium glutamate (Luo et al, 2019).…”

“…Similar to a prior study, 60%–70% of them expressed concerns about the contamination of food with heavy metals, the transfer of plasticizers in food containers, and the excessive consumption of monosodium glutamate (Luo et al, 2019). However, another Bangladeshi research found that only 38.2% of respondents were worried about heavy metals, while 42.7% were worried about plasticizers leaching into their food (Ali et al, 2023). As a result, having a more positive attitude toward food safety is vital for students in the healthcare area since it can help protect consumers, improve medical treatment, enhance professionalism, and decrease the risk of foodborne illness.…”