FOOD HYGIENE AND SAFETY PRACTICES OF FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS

Everyone has anequal right to adequate, appropriate,nutritious, and safe food but along with this right comes a great responsibility which is to ensure food safety for all. Republic Act 10611 otherwise known as the Food Safety Act of 2013 was signed into law by President Benigno Aquino to strengthen the countrys food regulatory structure. It primarily adheres to the declaration of the Philippine constitution to safeguard and promote the right of the people to health and keep them from risk of trade mismanagement as well as hazardous and unsafe products. The law affirms food safety as a vital componentof nation-building to facilitate healthy economy, system, community, and people. On the other hand, altered food safety and security hampers economic development by straining the health care systems, weakening productivity, and damaging the economy.It istherefore imperative to realize the significance of food safety to attain a nationssustainable advancement. Nonetheless, there has been less evidence on the status of food hygiene and safety practices of food establishments.Mainly, this study aimed to determine the food hygiene and safety practices of food establishments. Inparticular,it answered the assessment of the respondents on food hygiene practices of the food establishments along personal hygiene, food preparation practices, safe food storage, andutensils and equipment. Likewise, it identified the food safety practices as perceived by the same groups of respondents in terms of food handling, physical condition, food management system, and health standards implementation. It also investigated if there is a significant difference between the perspectives of the respondents as well as the problems encountered by food establishments. To attain the purpose of this study, a survey type of research was conducted employing a survey-questionnaire as the main instrument in data gathering.