Do as I say or do as I do? Evaluation of good handling practices in hospital food services.
Food handling; food supply; food hygiene.
Compliance with good handling practices is essential for quality assurance in meal production. Food Services of University Hospitals (FSUH) deserve special attention because of the vulnerability of the assisted clientele and because they are training scenarios for health professionals from different areas of activity. This study sought to evaluate the production of meals in FSUH regarding hygienic-sanitary conditions, as well as the knowledge of food handlers about current sanitary legislation regarding good practices for food services. In order to evaluate the knowledge of the food handlers, as well as their self-reported practices, a checklist based on the current sanitary legislation was used. Microbiological analysis of utensils and food handling surfaces were carried out. The data were collected in the 3 hospitals that are part of the hospital complex of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte. The "knowledge" and the "self-reported practices" of the food handlers reached satisfactory percentages in relation to food safety, 77.22% and 78.14%, respectively. It was observed that the knowledge of the manipulators presented significant positive correlation (p<0.05) with their self-reported practices. There was no association between socio-demographic data and knowledge of food handlers; however, in relation to self-reported practices, the association of this with training time (p<0.05) was observed. The application of the checklist in the foodservices showed that they have an average adequacy of 60.94% regarding good handling practices, classifying the units as regular. The results of the microbiological analysis carried out on the manipulation surfaces showed that 66.67% presented significant contamination of mesophiles, classified as under unsatisfactory hygienic conditions. The presence of 45ºC Coliforms was identified in 47.92% of the surfaces, indicating poor sanitary conditions. The results showed the need to work on the motivation of food handlers of the FSUH in a way to encourage them to practice the knowledge regarding the safe handling of foods that have proven to know in theory.