Food Safety Knowledge, Attitudes and Behavior among Dairy Plant Workers in Beijing, Northern China

Yan Chen, Hua Ji, Li-Jun Chen, Rong Jiang and Yong-Ning Wu
Additional contact information
Yan Chen: Key Laboratory of Food Safety Risk Assessment of Ministry of Health, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100021, China
Hua Ji: Food College, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, China
Li-Jun Chen: National Engineering Research Center for Maternal and Infant Dairy Health, Yinghai, Daxing District, Beijing 100163, China
Rong Jiang: National Engineering Research Center for Maternal and Infant Dairy Health, Yinghai, Daxing District, Beijing 100163, China
Yong-Ning Wu: Key Laboratory of Food Safety Risk Assessment of Ministry of Health, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100021, China

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: The safety of milk and dairy products has always been one of the focuses of consumers, the food industry and regulatory agencies. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the food safety knowledge, attitudes and behavior of dairy plant workers. A cross-sectional survey was performed between May and August 2015 in three dairy plants in Beijing, northern China. A total of 194 dairy plant workers were interviewed to collect information on food safety knowledge, attitudes and self-reported behavior. The 194 dairy plant workers interviewed showed a sufficient level of knowledge (mean score 34 on a scale from 0–58), perfect attitudes (mean score 17 on a scale from 0–18), and perfect behavior (mean score 38 on a scale from 8–40). Only 39% of workers correctly determined specific pathogens or diseases that could be conveyed through milk and dairy products. 24% of workers knew the correct method of washing hands. A significant positive association was observed between attitudes and knowledge ( p < 0.001) as well as behavior ( p < 0.01). Education level was positively and significantly associated with food safety knowledge, attitudes, and behavior ( p < 0.05). Workers in dairy enterprises in northern China have relatively low levels of knowledge, yet satisfactory attitudes and behavior. The knowledge of microbial food hazards and hand hygiene remains an issue that needs to be emphasized in future training programs. Education level is a determinant of attitudes and behavior with regard to the proper handling of milk and dairy products.

Keywords: attitudes; dairy plant worker; food safety; knowledge; behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/1/63/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/1/63/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:1:p:63-:d:125330

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().