Food Safety Practices Among Homemakers in the Sagnarigu Municipal of Northern Ghana.

Abstract:

This study investigated household food safety practices (HFSPs) employed by homemakers in Sagnarigu Municipality of Northern Ghana. It explored their practices related to food hygiene, food storage, food preparation, handling and cooking, serving, and disposal of food. The study employed a stratified random sampling technique to survey 300 participants across six communities in the study area. Questionnaires were the primary data collection tool, supplemented by observations and unstructured interviews. The study revealed that, on household food safety practices, majority (68%) of homemakers store cooked food at room temperature, store raw vegetables/fruits at room temperature (71.9%) and 36.3% store raw meat/poultry/fish by freezing. Food safety measures employed by homemakers showed that most of the homemakers wash utensils before and after cooking (72.9%) and serve meals when hot (87.2%). Homemakers had a moderate knowledge of food safety, observed good personal hygiene. However, some bad food safety practices were reported such as cooking or handling food when ill.