Food when food handlers do not practice proper

Food essentiallyfunctions as a key to satisfy hunger. Abraham Maslow (1954) stated that it isserved to fulfilling biological needs as incorporated in the very popularhierarchy pyramid. According to Moon (2010) food consumption is reflected as asimple act of fulfilling biological needs.

Generally, food overviewed at itslowest level of abstraction is necessary to sustain life (Conner & Armitage2002). Indeed, foods serve beyond the boundary of gastrointestinal tract andmore than just a nutritional fact and value.  A study by Neeand Sani (2001) found that food is a product that is rich in nutrients requiredby microorganisms, the growth of bacteria in food may be showing tocontamination through the major sources like water, air, dust, equipment, sewage, insects, rodents and food handler. Furthermore, there will beincreasing chances of food contamination due to improper food handling as aresult of changes in food preparation techniques as well as eating habits. A goodfood hygiene practises is needed to prevent other gastrointestinal infectionssuch as hepatitis A and gastroenteritis. In addition, food-borne illness outbreaks are often caused by poor personalhygiene among food handlers. Although many efforts have been made to improvevarious hygiene standards and practices, training and education of food handleras well as consumer awareness, food-borne illness still remain a public healthdilemma in many countries.

According to Park, Kwak and Chang (2010), improper food preparation practices can cause food-borneillness. When food handlers do not practice proper food safety and personal hygieneduring food preparation, they may become vehicles for microorganism’s forexample through their hand, mouth and skin (Omemu & Bankole 2005). Thesafety of food handler is determined by several factors starting from thequality of the raw material, to food handling and storage practices. Foodhandlers with poor hygiene can be the sources of food-borne diseases eitherdirectly or non-directly. These factors are largely influenced by the knowledgeand practises of food handlers. Moreover, according to The World Health Organization(WHO, 2006), several factors associated with food borne illness such as poorfood safety knowledge, poor personal hygiene, cross-contamination as well timeand temperature abuse during storage and preparation of food.