Food hygiene knowledge and behaviour of workers of a firm offering catering services to certain health institutions in izmir

It is crucial for a food company that their workers are educated about hygiene in the first place for healthy production. This study aims to research the knowledge and behaviour of workers of a catering firm in Izmir on food hygiene and personal hygiene, and to determine the factors that influence their knowledge and behaviour. It was planned that all workers of the catering firm participated in the research, however; 59 people participated in the study. The study was conducted in the central kitchen of the firm which has the ISO 22000 Food Safety Management System, and in the hospitals served by the firm. It is a cross-sectional study, the variables of which are age, sex, marital status, educational background, working duration at the food firm, undergoing regular medical check-ups, profession group, and knowledge and behaviour concerning food hygiene. The research data were collected through questionnaires and observations by the researcher. Those who are not workers in the kitchen were not observed. Their knowledge on food hygiene were graded and evaluated as sufficient or insufficient. Their behaviours were graded in accordance with the twelve behaviours observed about food hygiene, and were evaluated as appropriate or inappropriate. The mean age of the workers is 35.4 ± 7.6. 86.4 % of 59 people are workers in the kitchen while 13.6 % are food engineer, food technician, secretary, and driver who are not often in the kitchen. It was determined that all workers participating in the research underwent regular medical check-ups after getting the job, that a majority of them have had hygiene training courses at their current work place or before, and that more than half of the workers have been working in the food firm for 7 years or less. Educational background is a factor which significantly affects the food hygiene knowledge level (p=0.029). It was identified that socio-demographic attributes do not have a significant effect on behaviour concerning food hygiene.Key words: Workers? hygiene, food hygiene, knowledge, behaviour