Profile of food handlers working in food service establishments located within the premises of a medical college in Delhi, India

Summary 

Objectives

To find out: (1) the socio-demographic and professional characteristics of food handlers working in food service establishments located in the campus of a medical college in New Delhi, (2) the prevalence of morbid conditions among them and their health-care-seeking behaviour and immunization status.

Study design

Cross-sectional study

Methods

A total of 151 food handlers working in 18 food service establishments were interviewed regarding their socio-demographic and professional characteristics, history of substance use, disease if any and health care sought for it, immunization status and pre-placement and in-service medical examination. They were also subjected to clinical examination. Stool examination was done for 129 study subjects.

Results

The majority were less than 40 years of age (60.3%), male (97.4%), Hindu (95.3%), literate (80.1%) and had the habit of substance use (75.5%). Most of them (94.7%) had one or more morbid conditions, important ones being dental caries (50.3%), worm infestation (41.1%) and injuries/burns on hands (39.7%). The health seeking behaviour, immunization status in relation to enteric group of fevers and tetanus and pre-placement and in-service medical examination were observed to be unsatisfactory.

Conclusion

The findings of the study highlight the need of creating awareness among food handlers about various measures of maintaining food hygiene and ensuring their good health through pre-placement and inservice medical examination.

Keywords: Food handler, Food hygiene, Morbidity profile, Food service establishments, India