Food Safety and Hygiene Practices among Food Handlers in Selected Markets in Benin-City, Edo State, Nigeria

Background: Food-borne illnesses are common, costly, yet preventable public health challenge. Poorly handled food is linked to the global deaths of an estimated two million people annually, including many children. Aim To examine the safety practices among food handlers regarding food hygiene in selected markets in Edo State, Nigeria and examine relationships among variables within study. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional, study design with final sample size of 265 was adopted in conducting this study. Results Study found that majority of market food handlers reported good practice of food hygiene. Evidence of relationship between the level of education (p =0.006 CI 95 %), sex (p =0.033 CI 95 %) and practice of food hygiene was statistically significant in this study. Also, years of handling food and food hygiene and safety practices (p =0.623 CI 95 %) were not correlated. The relationship between the practice of food hygiene and knowledge of food hygiene was also statistically significant (p =0.0001 CI 95 %) in our study. Conclusion This current study concludes that reported practice of food hygiene and safety differ from observed practices among food handlers in Markets.