Abstract
Contamination of food due to limited knowledge of food safety practices primarily increases the risk of food borne illnesses. Therefore, food handlers should improve their knowledge and skills on food safety and hygiene. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of selected sociodemographic factors on the knowledge of food safety and hygiene among food service staff in hospitals. A cross-sectional study was conducted for hospital food service staff in the Makkah area. Information on sociodemographic characteristics and existing knowledge regarding food safety and hygiene was gathered by using a pretested questionnaire. In our study, the level of knowledge was influenced by age and gender. Females were significantly more knowledgeable than males regarding many aspects of food hygiene and safety. Additionally, the present study revealed that dieticians scored the highest number of correct responses for all parameters of food safety and hygiene. In conclusion, the findings of this study indicate that age, gender, education level and job title were associated with the level of knowledge among the participants. Increased effort must be made to enroll food handlers in an effective food safety training program to help them increase their food safety knowledge before they begin working at a hospital.