THE EFFECTIVENESS OF FOOD SAFETY AND SANITATION MEASURES AMONG CATERERS IN IBADAN

The spread of bacteria is the most serious risk to the smooth and safe running of a catering environment, with cross-contamination being the main source of germs spreading from surface to surface. Caterers are expected to have good knowledge of food preservation and storage to prevent contamination and food illnesses. Thus, this study aims at determining the effective implementation of food safety and sanitation measures among caterers in Ibadan. The study seeks to answer three major research questions and also tested three hypotheses. This study was anchored on the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) as the theoretical framework and adopted the correlational design. The population of study comprises of caterers within Ibadan metropolis and the sample size was determined using a statistically based size determination formular, which place the sample size at one hundred and thirteen. A self-structured questionnaire was the research instrument of study. Finding of the study shows that caterers’ association in Ibadan has policies for food safety and sanitation and they do regularly encourages caterers to ensure proper food hygiene. This has reflected in the high level of knowledge on personal hygiene, knowledge on food temperature control, foodborne diseases and cross-contamination exhibit by caterers within Ibadan. Similarly, their knowledge has increase their level of compliance with food safety and sanitation practices such as use protective clothing and mask, cap, gloves and apron when touching or distribute unwrapped foods, use different chopping board for raw meat and fresh produce (vegetables and fruit), wash and sanitize the working clothes, use a different cloth or towel to dry plates, wash their hands after touching money, wash their hands before preparing meals, and wash their hands after handling raw meats or poultry. However, factors imitating against implementation of food safety and sanitation measure are; poor availability to water source, poor knowledge of food safety among caterers contribute to food contamination, low level of educational, passive participation in the caterers’ association activities, unregistered caterers, improvising materials when preparing food and lack of proper storage facility for transporting cooked food.