Knowledge, attitudes and practices evaluation on food hygiene and safety among perishable food handlers from a hypermarket in Portugal

The main objective of this study was to evaluate in loco the practices followed by the food handlers in three sections of a hypermarket, namely, butcher’s, charcuterie and fishery, as well as their level of knowledge, attitudes and practices in food hygiene and safety through the application of questionnaires. At the end it was also intended to relate the results with the training and professional experience, as well as demographic characteristics, such as sex, age and education level of food handlers. Regarding the in loco evaluation of the good personal hygiene and manufacturing practices followed by food handlers common failures were observed in the three sections studied, regarding clothing (incorrect placement of the cap and the use of adornments and jewelry), not frequent hand washing during peak flow of customers, use of cleaning and disinfecting products not indicated in the Hygienization Plan, and the use of textile fabrics. Concerning knowledge, attitudes and practices, in most situations no significant differences between the results obtained and the demographic characteristics of the food handlers were found. A high number of wrong answers were observed on topics related to microbiological knowledge and on some attitudes and hygiene practices. Therefore, these subjects should appear as priority issues in future training activities.