ISSN: 0973-7510

E-ISSN: 2581-690X

Research Article | Open Access
Siti Maisyaroh Bakti Pertiwi1,2, Hanifa M. Denny1 , Nurjazuli Nurjazuli3 and Syamsulhuda Budi Musthofa4
1Doctoral Program in Public Health, Faculty of Public Health, Diponegoro University, Semarang City, Indonesia.
2Bachelor Program in Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Wahid Hasyim, Jl. Raya Gunungpati KM.15, Semarang City, Indonesia.
3Department of Environmental Health Faculty of Public Health, Diponegoro University, Semarang City, Indonesia.
4Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Science, Faculty of Public Health, Diponegoro University, Semarang City, Indonesia.
Article Number: 9956 | © The Author(s). 2025
J Pure Appl Microbiol. 2025;19(2):1350-1357. https://doi.org/10.22207/JPAM.19.2.38
Received: 04 October 2024 | Accepted: 14 March 2025 | Published online: 02 June 2025
Issue online: June 2025
Abstract

Food safety is an important issue in the school environment, especially by food handlers responsible for providing lunches to students, who are vulnerable to foodborne diseases. This cross-sectional study assessed the demographic characteristics of food handlers, including food safety-related knowledge and behaviour, and their impact on Escherichia coli bacterial contamination on their hands. Data were collected from 88 foodservice workers in 6 selected schools from a structured questionnaire and a hand swab test. The results showed that 39.8% of the food handlers had good knowledge and 38.6% implemented good food safety practices. These findings are significant, considering that 10.2% of food handlers tested positive for Escherichia coli, which can be fatal to the health of vulnerable students. Further statistical analyses identified a significant relationship between food handler behaviour and Escherichia coli contamination (p = 0.031), although no significant relationship with knowledge level was determined (p = 0.135). This study underscores the importance of food safety training for non-certified food handlers in internal school catering services. These results also provide a knowledge basis for policymakers and schools regarding taking immediate preventive measures to maintain the health and safety of students.

Keywords

Food Safety, Food Handlers, Escherichia coli, School

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© The Author(s) 2025. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License which permits unrestricted use, sharing, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.