STATUS OF FOOD HANDLING PRACTICE AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG WORKERS IN PUBLIC FOOD CATERING ESTABLISHMENT, ETHIOPIA: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Background: Foodborne disease is one of the most frequent and life-threatening diseases on the planet. The aim of this study is to determine food handling practice and factors associated with good food handling status among food handlers in public food catering establishments, in Ethiopia.

Methods: One hundred and fifty studies were gathered using key terms in a search web page, and finally, twelve studies were included with considering a pre-structured inquiry that addressed the desired outcome and then grouped in a table and figure.

Results: This systematic review finding revealed that the mean good food handling practice in public food catering establishments in Ethiopia is low. The predicted factors for good food handling practices were included as educational status, experience, training, regular medical checkups, knowledge of the foodborne disease, absence of adequate supervision, lack of clean water, and maintain good hygiene in the workplace played a significant role to keep good food handling practice in Ethiopia.

Conclusion: It is suggested that food catering establishments are the main source of food-borne disease. Therefore, massive food catering establishment owners and food inspection authority should give better emphasis with designing necessary strategies to improve food hygiene and safety concerns in the countries.