Effect of Food Safety and Hygiene Training Programme on Knowledge and Practices of Food Handlers in Restaurants in Southern-Senatorial District of Cross River State: A Protocol

Introduction: The public health concern over food safety and complications accompanying improper food safety practices continue to persist globally. Approximately 600 million individuals worldwide experience food hygiene-related illness with an additional 420,000 dying from food hygiene-related complications each year. In Nigeria, over 200,000 deaths occur from foodborne illness annually and the problem is further exacerbated by inadequate infrastructure, poor regulations, and limited awareness of food safety and hygiene practices among food handlers and consumers. Thus, this study is designed to determine the effect of food safety and hygiene training programme on the knowledge and practices of food handlers in restaurants and canteens in Southern Senatorial District of Cross River State, Nigeria. The Information-Motivation-Behavioural Skills Model will be used for this study. Method: A quasi-experimental design (with pre-and post-test assessment) will be adopted for this study. The study population will consist of all food handlers operating in restaurants and canteens in the study area with at least six months of work experience who give consent to participate. The estimated sample size will be 74 each for the control and intervention groups. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval will be sought from the Cross River State Ministry of Health Research Ethics Committee. The intervention strategy will be a clustered nutrition education programme with focus on food hygiene and safety practices, directed at food handlers in restaurants and canteens in the intervention group. The proposed instrument for data collection will be questionnaire and observational checklist. The knowledge level and food safety practices of the participants before and after the training will be recorded. The limitation of the study could be the potential for bias in self-reported data from food handlers regarding their knowledge and practices towards food safety.