Food safety knowledge among foodservice staff at the universities in Jordan

This study examined food safety knowledge of foodservice staff in food establishments at the universities in Jordan. A total of 520 foodservice respondents from 79 foodservice establishments located at 27 universities (34 campuses) were conveniently selected to participate in this cross sectional study. The participants completed a questionnaire composed of two parts; general characteristics and food safety knowledge. Results showed that respondents generally had insufficient food safety knowledge with mean score of 67.1%. Food safety aspect with the highest score was “personal hygiene” (74.9%), followed by "foodborne pathogens and related symptoms and illnesses" (74.3%) and "cross contamination prevention and sanitation" (71.9%) aspects while the aspects with the lowest score were "health problems that would affect food safety" (61.1%) and "safe storage, thawing, cooking and reheating of foods" (53.5%) aspects. The respondents had very poor knowledge on the fundamental information of HACCP system. There were significant (P-value ˂0.05) association between food safety knowledge and respondents' gender, age, monthly salary, educational level, years of experience, and enrollment in food safety training. Logistic regression results showed that food workers had lower (P-value ˂0.05) food safety knowledge compared to dietitians (OR 0.253). Also, respondents from external managed establishments or enrolled in food safety training were more likely to have more food safety knowledge (OR 2.5) than those from internal managed establishments or did not enroll in food safety training. This research revealed the importance of education and consistent training of food foodservice staff coupled with effective implementation of HACCP system in reducing the risk of food poisoning in foodservice establishments at the universities in Jordan.