FOOD HYGIENE PRACTICES AMONG PROFESSIONAL CULINARY FOOD HANDLERS

Food hygiene is an essential component of public health and is particularly important in professional culinary environments where large quantities of food are prepared, stored, cooked, and served to consumers. Professional culinary food handlers, including chefs, cooks, kitchen assistants, servers, and other food-service employees, have an important role in preventing food contamination and foodborne diseases. Unsafe practices such as inadequate handwashing, cross-contamination between raw and cooked foods, improper temperature control, poor personal hygiene, unsafe thawing, inappropriate food storage, and inadequate cleaning and sanitation can increase the risk of foodborne illness. The World Health Organization promotes five basic principles for safer food: keeping clean, separating raw and cooked foods, cooking thoroughly, keeping food at safe temperatures, and using safe water and raw materials.The literature also indicates that food safety training can substantially improve knowledge, although improvement in knowledge does not always guarantee sustained behavioural change. Systematic reviews suggest that training interventions can improve knowledge and, in some circumstances, attitudes and practices, while workplace resources, management commitment, supervision, and food safety culture also influence compliance.sciencedirect.Therefore, effective food hygiene requires not only individual knowledge but also supportive organizational systems, adequate facilities, monitoring, continuous training, and management commitment.