The Effect of Food Safety and Hygiene Education on The Knowledge Levels of Tourism Students in Turkey

Abstract

This study aims to reveal the effect of food safety and hygiene lesson on the food safety knowledge level of the students studying in the tourism management department. The lesson has included hygiene, sanitation and food safety concepts, hygiene and sanitation in tourism businesses, personal hygiene, microbiological, physical and chemical degradation of foods, food safety systems. Questionnaire consisting of a total of forty questions on food and foodborne diseases, personnel hygiene, kitchen and equipment, contamination, temperature control, and food preservation was used as a data collection tool. The study was administered to tourism management and hospitality undergraduate students studying in Turkey. Students had the lowest range of food safety knowledge about temperature control and food preservation (20.6%-89.2%) on temperature control and food preservation before the food safety and hygiene lesson. In other groups, students showed a level of knowledge in the average 86.5%-92.8% range. The lesson showed a significant difference in all parts regarding the level of food safety knowledge. When evaluated in general, the present study showed that with a lesson like food safety and hygiene, deficiencies in food safety information can be overcome.