A comparison of hygiene standards of serving and cooking kitchens in schools in Hungary

- Food safety surveys in 68 school kitchens were carried out.
- More attention should be paid to serving kitchens than actually.
- Food safety level of the kitchens will be primarily determined by the adequacy of food handling.
- Level of the kitchens can be raised by improving kitchen workers' knowledge on hygiene and food safety.

IntroductionFor the appropriate and efficient operation of school kitchens it is indispensable to have a thorough knowledge of their condition, identification of weaknesses and strengths. Our aim is to establish a methodology for food safety survey which provides possibility for maintainers to understand the condition of their kitchen in accordance with the good hygiene practice (GHP) directives. Based on this assessment points of interventions should be identified for the better adaptation of GHP.MethodsSixty-eight school catering units were surveyed in Hungary examining them at 233 points. Nineteen of the evaluated food service units are operated as cooking kitchens and 49 were serving ones. The checklist based survey focused on the following topics: Physical establishment and environment; Kitchen personnel; Equipment and utensils; Food delivery and storage; Food preparation, serving and cleaning; Quality assurance; and Conditions of the dining hall.Results and conclusionsPerformance of the kitchens was between 44 and 91%, however, serving kitchens were scored lower. Our analysis showed that the food safety level of a unit will be primarily determined by adequacy of food handling. According to our observations kitchens can be levelled up by development of knowledge and awareness of kitchen workers. This knowledge will be the precondition and motivating factor for changes in behaviour and development of good handling practices. Within the scope of this development special attention should be paid to serving kitchens.