Determination of Hygienic Practice and Status of Food Handlers in Catering Premises: A Case Study of Ilala Municipal Council

This study assessed the adherence to food handlers hygienic practice in relation to Microbial prevalence in catering premises at Ilala Municipal Council. The magnitude of the problem in the study area is estimated to be significantly high due to nature of the city. Two hundred and six individuals participated in the study. 200 (97.1%) were food handlers and 6 (2.9%) of the respondents were Health officials. The sex distribution of the respondents was almost the same, female were 102 (49.5%) and male were 104 (50.5%). The Microorganisms of interest which are mostly causatives of diarrhoea diseases isolated during this study among food handles were Staphylococcus aureus 26 (13.0%); Escherichia. colli 7 (3.5%); and Staphlococcus spp. 120 (60.0%); However are other species isolated that are Proteus spp. 8 (4.0%); Klebsiella spp. 32 (16.0%); Pseudomonas aeruginosa spp. 6 (3.0%); Streptococcus pneumonia 1 (0.5%). These findings were somehow similar with study findings by Omemu et al., (2014) in Nigeria; Andargie et al., (2008) in Ethiopia and Mensah et al., (2002) in Accra. Majority of respondents 185 (92.5%) who had hand washing facilities in their working premises were found contaminated with microbes as compared to 15 (7.5) respondents with no hand washing facilities. The study findings revealed that there is an existence of poor food hygiene practice among food handlers. The study recommends development of training/orientation programs for food handlers, develop training manuals on food hygiene and safety practices including strengthening of supervision and regular monitoring of food premises. Findings of this study may help in planning health intervention programs for food handlers