Food handlers' knowledge on food hygiene: the case of a catering company in Portugal

The aim of this study was to assess the food hygiene knowledge of professional food handlers from an institutional catering company which manufactures and distributes meals to the canteens of schools, kindergartens and nursing homes in Portugal. A total of 101 food handlers from 18 geographically distributed business units were assessed. Data collection employed a previously used, multiple-choice questionnaire, aimed at exploring the food safety knowledge and practices of individual respondents. The average score of questions answered correctly was 13 out of 23 (56.5%) with a standard deviation (SD) of 3.22. However, the percentage of correct answers varies with the issues questioned, being significantly lower on issues such as temperature control (p < 0.001) and sources of contamination/high-risk foods (p < 0.001). The level of knowledge was influenced by the level of formal education (p = 0.025) of respondents. The results reinforce the importance of conducting a preliminary assessment of training needs and evaluating the effectiveness of training.