A study of hand washing practices among the chefs of the registered restaurants in Pune Cantonment
Keywords:
Hand Washing, Restaurants, Food Safety, Infection, Cross Sectional StudyAbstract
Background
An important aspect of food safety is hand hygiene that can decrease food
borne infections manifold. With the boom in the Indian food-service industry,
hand washing practices among chefs gain special significance.
Objectives
To estimate the knowledge, describe the hand washing practices of the chefs &
observe the hand washing facilities.
Methods
A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted among the chefs of
registered restaurants in Pune Cantonment selected through multi stage
random sampling. A pre tested and pre designed interviewer administered
questionnaire was used for data collection which also included a checklist for
the hand washing facilities.
Results
Among the 174 chefs, the mean age was 27.9 (+7.9) years. Of them 144
(82.8%) of the chefs considered hand washing important but only 66 (45.8%)
were aware of the correct technique. The importance of hand washing and its
proper technique was not the part of the training curriculum for 125 (71.8%) of the chefs. Soaps were used by
119 (68.4%) chefs for washing hands while 19 (10.9%) used plain water. Out of 87 restaurants, 26 (29.9%) had
hand washing stations inside toilets and only 25 (28.7%) had hand washing stations in cooking areas.
Interpretations & Conclusions
Most of the respondents were aware of the necessary health aspects of hand washing but their practice was
unsatisfactory. This needs to be redressed by regular & mandatory training, reinforcements in the form of
posters, workshops etc. and implementing Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006 guidelines in letter
and spirit.
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