A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY TO ASSESS THE KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE OF FOOD SAFETY AMONG ANGANWADI WORKERS IN CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU - 2016

Food Handlers play a major role in transmitting pathogens passively from the contaminated source of hands and fingers to food to be eaten. They may also shed food borne pathogens such as E-coli and Non-Typhoidal salmonella during diarrhea. The Anganwadi workers have an important role in supervising the Anganwadi helper who cooks and serves food for children attending the ICDS centers. So, an Anganwadi worker should have the right knowledge regarding food safety to reduce the morbidity and mortality due to food poisoning and food borne illness. OBJECTIVE - To determine the knowledge and practice of food safety among Anganwadi workers. MATERIALS AND METHODS - Cross sectional study was conducted among randomly selected 117 Anganwadi Workers belonging to the selected project area in Chennai. RESULTS - Out of the total 117 Anganwadi workers, 70 percentage of them were in the age group of 20-40 years, majority were studied 10th standard. Nearly 74 percentage of them had the correct knowledge regarding food safety and 89 percentage of them were practicing the correct methods in assuring food safety to the beneficiaries. CONCLUSION - The study subjects had an overall better awareness regarding food safety.