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Abstract
Background:
Food-borne diseases are global public health problem. People in low- and middle-income countries are at high risk of foodborne illnesses related to poor sanitation and lack of food safety practices.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to clarify the prevalence and risk factors associated with foodborne pathogens among asymptomatic food handlers attending food handling clinics at KFMMC and to assess the level of knowledge and food safety practices among them.
Methods: Hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted at KFMMC, Eastern Region, Saudi Arabia. The study population included all individual’s males engaged in food handling. The sample size included 349 food handlers. The prevalence of foodborne pathogens among the food handlers was determined through laboratory testing of stool samples, and nasal swabs from consenting food handlers.
Results: The number of people infected with food borne pathogens was 95 with a proportion of 27.2%. The rate of Staphylococcal aureus was 10.3%, E. coli O157:H7 (Shiga toxin) 9.5%, Campylobacter 3.4%, Giardia lamblia 2.0%, Shigella 1.1%, and Salmonella 0.9%. The findings indicated the following associated risk factors for foodborne pathogens among the studied food handlers: food handlers who did not receive training on food safety (OR=2.580; 95%CI; 1.219-5.459), who did not have food handling certificate (OR=1.831; 95%CI; 1.138-2.948), who did not trim their fingernails (OR=2.674; 95%CI; 1.637-4.367), who did not wear gloves while preparing and handling food (OR=1.844; 95%CI; 1.063-3.196), who did not wear hair net while handling food (OR=1.684; 95%CI; 1.010-2.807), who wearing finger ornaments (OR=2.419; 95% CI; 1.450-4.035). who did not wash their hands after toilet, (OR=2.308; 95%CI; 1.387-3.840), who did not wash their hands before food preparing (OR=1.845; 95%CI; 1.112-3.063), who did not wash their hands after touching food contact surfaces (OR=1.662; 95%CI; 1.025-2.693), who did not wash their hands after touching raw meats (OR=2.673; 95%CI; 1.626-4.395), inadequate cleaning of food contact surfaces before and after preparing food (OR=1.855; 95%CI; 1.053-3.267), food handlers with poor personal hygiene (OR=1.717; 95%CI; 1.030-2.864), and food handlers with poor level of knowledge (OR=1.849; 95%CI; 1.146-2.983). Further, 52.1% (182/349) of the participants had an acceptable level of knowledge, and 66.2% (231/349) had good level of practice on food borne illnesses and on food safety.
Conclusion: Our study showed high prevalence of food borne pathogens among food handlers in the studied area
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2025 Yasser Awadallah Yasein, Othman Ali Al Ghamdi, Sultan Hamad Al Mutairi, Mesfer Abdulla Al Ghamdi, Nora Mohammed Al Subaie, Ashwaq Fathi Nasser Al Dossary, Mansour Yeanallah Al Ghamdi, Manal Ibrahim Mohammed Abutheraa, Najeeb Hassan Al Alawi, Mohammed Salem Al Haroon, Nawaf Manahi Abdullah Al Mutairi, Ameen Ibrahim Al Hababi, Haya Dhaifallah Mohammed Al Harbi, Reem Ahmed Al Mansour (Author)