Food-Safety Behavior among Housewives Residing in Kuhpayeh, Isfahan Province, Iran, in 2015

Food-safety behavior can affect family health. Therefore, the present study was carried out to determine food-safety behavior among housewives in Kuhpayeh, Isfahan Province, Iran, in 2015.
This cross-sectional study was performed on 150 housewives from Kuhpayeh. The participants were selected through systematic random sampling. The data-gathering instrument was a multi-part questionnaire. It contained questions on demographic characteristics and food-safety behavior, based on the Five Keys to Safer Food of the World Health Organization (WHO). The data acquired from this self-report questionnaire were analyzed using statistical tests in SPSS software.
Findings: In this study, the mean (SD) of the women’s ages was 41.03 ± 12.41. The mean (SD) of each Key including keep clean, separate raw and cooked, cook thoroughly, keep food at safe temperatures, use safe water and raw materials were 47.95 ± 2.97, 13.89 ± 1.50, 13.21 ± 1.89, 24.83 ± 1.99, and 17.12 ± 1.93, respectively. Among items related to food safety, only personal hygiene, healthy food, and clean water were significantly associated with the women’s education.
According to the results, food-safety behavior among housewives in Kuhpāyeh was desirable. However, the provision of correct education about habits such as hand washing before preparing meals and using cleaning pads can be helpful.