Purpose

The aims of this study were to assess the food safety knowledge amongst domestic workers in the UAE and test the association between their socio-demographic characteristics and food safety knowledge.

Design/methodology/approach

A non-probabilistic sample of 231 domestic workers who help families in food preparation and/or cooking participated in this cross-sectional study. The participants completed a questionnaire composed of socio-demographic characteristics and four different aspects of food safety knowledge (personal hygiene, food poisoning, cross-contamination and temperature control).

Findings

It was observed that the domestic workers had inadequate knowledge about food safety with an overall food safety knowledge score of 32.9%. Total knowledge of “personal hygiene” and “cross-contamination” was relatively higher (46.2 and 43.9%, respectively) than that of “food poisoning” (18.1%) and “temperature control” (23.3%). A significant (P-value < 0.05) association was observed between overall food safety knowledge and marital status, age and education level, but not nationality of domestic workers (Asian or African).

Originality/value

The findings of this study are expected to encourage policy makers mandate food safety trainings for this segment of the population besides helping them in creating awareness and training programs regarding food safety.

中文翻译：

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阿联酋家政工人食品安全知识横断面研究

目的

本研究的目的是评估阿联酋家政工人的食品安全知识，并测试他们的社会人口特征与食品安全知识之间的关联。

设计/方法/方法

帮助家庭准备食物和/或烹饪的 231 名家政工人的非概率样本参与了这项横断面研究。参与者完成了一份由社会人口特征和食品安全知识的四个不同方面（个人卫生、食物中毒、交叉污染和温度控制）组成的问卷。

发现

据观察，家政工人的食品安全知识不足，总体食品安全知识得分为32.9%。“个人卫生”和“交叉污染”的总体知识（分别为46.2%和43.9%）高于“食物中毒”（18.1%）和“温度控制”（23.3%）。在整体食品安全知识与婚姻状况、年龄和教育水平之间观察到显着（P值 < 0.05）关联，但与家庭工人的国籍（亚洲或非洲）无关。

原创性/价值

预计这项研究的结果将鼓励政策制定者为这部分人群强制进行食品安全培训，同时帮助他们建立有关食品安全的意识和培训计划。