Food Safety Knowledge, Beliefs and Behaviour among Health Sciences-related Field Undergraduate Students at a Local University

Abstract

Foodborne disease is among the primary illness that causes morbidity and mortality in the world. Several studies show that most students do not have adequate food safety knowledge to protect themselves against foodborne diseases. This study aimed to determine the knowledge, behaviour and beliefs of food safety among undergraduate students at a local university in Malaysia. This cross-sectional study involves 121 respondents from three health science-related faculties at the studied institution. The questionnaire was distributed via an online platform. This study used multiple-choice-format questions for Food Safety Knowledge and a Likert type scale for Food Safety Behaviour and Belief question statements. Most of the respondents were female (78%). About 16% of the respondents have experiences of working /volunteering in food services, and half of them involved in food handling during their services. In this study, a moderate score was recorded in all sections (knowledge, behaviour, beliefs) with a total percentage score of 60.3%, 60.3% and 66.1%, respectively. This study is useful as a basis to develop a targeted food safety education program among undergraduate students. Students with high knowledge of food safety will increase food safety belief and behaviour, thus preventing them from getting any foodborne illness.

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/JSKM-2022-2001-02