Online Reviews: The Role of Employees in Food Safety – a Matter of Attitude, Knowledge and Behaviour. An Exploratory Study among Those who Directly Interact with Customers in Public Catering Units in Bucharest

Food safety has always been a crucial matter for organizations providing catering services. The present research paper aims to identify the role played by the employees in public catering companies in Bucharest in insuring food safety for customers. Besides aiming to highlight the demographic characteristics of people working in this industry, the present study is also targeted to identify employees’ level of knowledge on food safety, taking into account general aspects related to personal hygiene and complying with the hygienic and sanitary rules at the workplace, as well as aspects related to employees’ attitude and behaviour at the workplace regarding the safety of the food served to customers. The paper presents the results of a questionnaire based survey, highlighting the opinion of 394 employees working in public catering companies in Bucharest. The results present the profile of the employee in different types of public catering companies, indicating the influence of the level of education, experience and involvement in training programs to the positive attitude and correct behaviour in terms of respecting and complying with food safety regulations. The findings of the present study can represent the basis for future, more comprehensive research on the ways to enhance and insure food safety in public catering units.