Awareness and Practices on Household Food Safety among Working and Non-working Women of Islamabad

Abstract

Background:Food safety has become a universal challenge due to intrusion and escalation of food borne diseases. Foodborne diseases one of major sources of morbidity and mortality globally. Food safety is a shared responsibility; individual consumers and food handlers play a huge role in preventing foodborne diseases. Objectives:This study aimed to determine the level of food safety awareness and practices and to assess its association with socio-demographic factors; and to comparethe food safety awareness and practices among working and non-working women of Islamabad. Methodology:A cross-sectional study was carried out on 233 females visiting the grocery stores in sector‘s commercial markets (Markaz) who were randomly selected for the purpose of the study. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 26.0. One way ANOVA was carried out to investigate whether significant differences in overall level of food safety awareness and practices existed between participants with different demographic characteristics. T-test was run to investigate whether statically significant differences in awareness and practices existed, to compare between working and non working women. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered to indicate statistically significant results. Results:Among the 233 respondents, 64.8% of the respondents were between the ages of 26 to 41 years, 119 were married, education level of majority (89.7%) was tertiary (university). Working and non-working women were, 135 and 64, respectively. One v hundred and twenty-one of the respondents had no children (including the singles), 44.2% lived in a joint family system, and 54.9% had a monthly household income of more than Rs. 60000. The computed score for food safety awareness and practices was 10.9±3.2, on a scale from 0-22 and 7.3±2.4,on a scale from 0-13, respectively. Statistically significant relationships were observed between the participants‘ age, education, employment status, occupational level, type of family system and monthly household income and their overall food safety awareness (p<0.002). Statistically significant associations were observed between the participants‘ age (p<0.020), number of children (p<0.010), type of family system (p<0.0001) and monthly household income (p<0.001) and their overall food safety practices (p< 0.005). The mean score of overall awareness for working women was 11.7±3.4 which was more than the non-working, 9.7±2.4. Conclusion:In present study, the overall level of food safety awareness and practices was better in higher educated women, age group 26-41 years, who worked as middle to upper level employees and lived alone. The study concluded that the inadequate overall level of food safety awareness and practices was more prevalent among less educated, non-working women of younger and >41, years age group. There is a need for a more robust reinforcement on household food safety educational programs to prevent foodborne diseases in aimed groups. Keywords: Food Safety, Food Safety Awareness, Food Safety Practice, Foodborne Diseases, Women, Food Hygiene