Assessment of the Sanitary Conditions of Food Establishments in Mekelle Town

Zeru, Kinfe (2005) Assessment of the Sanitary Conditions of Food Establishments in Mekelle Town. Masters thesis, Addis Ababa University.

PDF (Assessment of the Sanitary Conditions of Food Establishments in Mekelle Town) Kinfe zeru.pdf - Accepted Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (544kB) | Request a copy

Abstract

In Mekelle town the number of catering establishments is increasing from time to time like other towns of the country. Different efforts are undergoing to prevent and/or avoid the incidence of foodborne diseases that can arise from food service establishments. However, the sanitary condition is not known since no systematic study was carried out to assess the condition. Thus, this study was designed to determine the sanitary conditions of mass catering establishments in Mekelle town. A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2004 to January 2005. A census was employed to obtain the list of catering establishments. Four hundred twenty two (422) establishments were recruited for the study from the total 546 establishments by simple random selection technique. Standardized and structured questionnaire was used to gather information. Bacteriological examination of food utensils from randomly selected 88 establishments was made. Standard swab sample collection and laboratory procedures were employed. Epi Info version 6 was implemented for data management. The findings of the study showed that 91% of the establishments have license, 65.7% were found operating their business in rented buildings and 83.8% of the managers/owners were literate. Sixty two percent of the floor and 54.4% of the walls and ceilings of the kitchens were found in good repair condition. Toilet, hand washing lavatories, proper solid waste receptacles and privately owned tap water supply were available in 96.9%, 57.1%, 39.2% and 93.6% of the establishments, respectively. Ineffective dish washing practice, improper food stuff and food utensil storage, poor personal hygiene and food handling practices of food handlers were also the major deficiencies observed. Of all the bacteriological tested, 44.3% were found withaerobic mesophilic bacteria above the acceptable level (>100 colonies/utensil) and 45.5% were grossly contaminated (> 50 fecal coliform/100ml). Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli were also isolated from 27.3% and 18.2% of the swabbed food utensils. In conclusion large numbers of mass catering establishments were found with poor sanitary condition and major deficiencies of the premises. The knowledge and practice of food handlers were also found unsatisfactory. In addition the laboratory results of swabbed utensils revealed the ineffectiveness of washing, sanitizing, handling and storage system. Therefore, the likelihood of food contamination is very high. Promoting and improving the standard sanitary requirements through regulatory activity, regular sanitary inspection focusing on education and motivation of owners and food handlers as well as an integrated work with other relevant sectors, is recommended.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Sanitary condition, catering, food utensils, swab test
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare R Medicine > RJ Pediatrics > RJ101 Child Health. Child health services
Divisions:	Africana
Depositing User:	Emmanuel Ndorimana
Date Deposited:	11 Oct 2018 12:09
Last Modified:	11 Oct 2018 12:09
URI:	http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/6786

Actions (login required)

View Item