FOOD SAFETY AND HYGIENE PRACTICES in Culinary Course

MONICA A. WANDOLO (M.Sc.) REGISTRATION NO: H87/13215/2009

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SELECTED TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL
EDUCATION AND TRAINING AND UNIVERSITY HOSPITALITY SCHOOLS IN KENYA

A RESEARCH THESIS SUBMITTED IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR

THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE SCHOOL OF
HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM MANAGEMENT OF KENYATTA UNIVERSITY

ABSTRACT

Food is a basic human need that plays a vital role in the sustenance of life. Its safety, however,
has become a major concern to the food industry given that the consumption of contaminated
food and water contributes to a myriad of health problems the world over. Although food
prepared and served at the restaurants may look clean and taste delicious, it may have been
contaminated by biological, chemical or physical hazards during the preparation procedures from
the source through to service. Food workshops (kitchens) are viewed as the major sources of
contaminations from poor sourcing and handling practices which include undercooking, poor
personal hygiene, and use of unclean equipment, inappropriate storage and incorrect holding
temperatures. Despite extensive investment in training of food handling personnel, food-borne
diseases remain a contentious problem to both developed and developing nations. The general
objective of this study was to compare food safety and hygiene practices in training colleges to
ascertain their capacity in training food safety and hygiene practices. The specific objectives
included to compare the level of hygiene awareness in Technical Industrial Vocational and
Entrepreneurship Training (TVET) and University hospitality Schools, to compare food-handling
practices between TVET and University hospitality schools, to establish their capacity in
offering food safety and hygiene practices, to assess the applicability of HACCP pre-requisites,
to determine barriers to food safety and hygiene practices in these institutions and more
importantly, to determine the microbial load of vegetables served from these institutions.
Hospitality training encompasses appropriate food handling procedures, careful selection of food
source and use of correct equipment, proper storage, proper cleaning procedures and proper
management of food waste. All University hospitality schools and food and beverage
departments in TVET colleges were considered as reliable sources of information. Accordingly,
the target population included both students and heads of these departments. The instruments
used to collect data included questionnaires, interviews, observation checklists, photographs and
focus group discussions. An observation checklist was used to assess good hygiene practices
(GHP) particularly in the training workshops. Both descriptive and inferential procedures were
used in data analysis and hypotheses. Chi-square was also used to test the independence of
various samples. Both paired t-test and one sample t-tests were used to test for equality of
 various study variables in the two institution categories. All tests were performed at 95%
confidence level. For microbial tests, Samples of spinach, coleslaw and mace͂dione of vegetables
(n=36) from these institutions were analysed in the laboratory to determine the microbial load,
aerobic plate count and coliform. Finally, to determine the barriers to food safety, a multiple
regression analysis was undertaken. The study established that the levels of awareness varied
across the institutions. Out of the total number of students, 17% were not aware of HACCP
principles. Institutions had no safety guidelines therefore no operational standards were
followed. The study revealed that institutions were not adequately equipped, and the HACCP
prerequisites were not used in most of the institutions. Multiple regression analysis revealed that
lack of resources posed a serious threat to food safety and hygienic practices. The isolation of
E.coli, salmonella and pseudomonas confirmed that food safety in the institutions was
compromised. This study therefore recommended that HACCP food safety system be introduced
in all hospitality training institutions as a measure against food contamination.

Safety Food Handling Practices of Hotel and Restaurant Management Student in Culinary
Food Preparation
3 2 1
1. I classify food according to their uniformity and similarity
2. I always checked if all kitchen tools and equipment are complete in a good
condition needed for food preparation
3. I know how to properly marinate meat with the use of different herb and
spices
4. I know how to peel fruits and vegetables with the use of peeler rather than
knife with outmost safety
5. I know how to pare the outside covering of vegetables and food which are
needed for safe food preparation
6. I prepare wholesome food, free of pest, and packaging is undamaged
7. Sanitize food contact surfaces and equipment prior to use
8. Practice food employee hygiene by frequent hand washing. Cuts, burns and
abrasions treated and covered
9. Check internal temperature using a probe thermometer at the thickest part of
the food and record temperature
10. Reheat food to 74*C within 2 hours.
Food Storage

1. I am aware in storing food in the proper location

2. I sanitized all kitchen tools and equipment and placing it to the storage room
after used
3. I visually inspect food before storing to an appropriate room temperature
4. Discard food held above 4*C for more than 2 hours
5. Store perishable and frozen food at 4*C to -18*C or colder to avoid buildup
of pathogens
6. Move food to alternate storage unit
7. Use a timer to ensure that food is cooled within t appropriate timeframe
Food Handling
1. I practiced that the borrowed kitchen tools and equipment must be clean and
dry
2. I know how to take good care all kinds of food
3. Discard contaminated food immediately
 4. Verify proper sanitizer concentration with test strip
5. Require rewashing of hands if necessary
6. Ill workers to be assigned nonfood handling duties or excluded from work

Thank you!