The level of food safety knowledge in food establishments in three European countries

Abstract

This study was performed with the aim to investigate and compare the level of food safety knowledge among food handlers in three different countries, Serbia, Greece and. Portugal, in different food establishments, namely restaurants, take-away places and catering companies. Total of 377 food handlers were involved in this study with 115 food handlers from Serbia (30.5%), 180 food handlers from Greece (47.7%) and 82 food handlers from Portugal (21.8%). For each participant, the knowledge score (KS) was calculated by dividing the sum of correct answers by the total number of questions. The average KS for all participants was 70.5%, with best overall KS that was obtained for Portuguese food handlers (72.6%), followed by Serbian (71.3%), whereas Greek food handlers showed lower scores (69.1%, p < 0.05). The biggest knowledge gaps that have been identified in relation to temperature control, source of contamination of foods and food-stuffs and high-risk foods can be used as a foundation for further improvements in food safety trainings.