A survey on determination of HACCP knowledge of food handlers in Istanbul food businesses

Abstract

The HACCP system is a food safety approach, which prevents hazards before they happen. With this survey we aimed to determine the HACCP knowledge of staff working in kitchens of food businesses in Istanbul and correlate the results with some demographic characteristics in order to evaluate HACCP awareness in the foodservice sector in Istanbul. A self-administrable questionnaire was developed in order to evaluate the knowledge of food handlers in all stages of kitchen work. The questionnaire consisted of a first set of 9 demographic questions followed by 12 items related to HACCP system application. According to data obtained from this study, food handlers’ HACCP knowledge increases parallel with age, education level, and time spent in the sector and seniority. In addition, in order to increase the knowledge and awareness of HACCP, training has been found to be important.