Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Knowledge and practices of food safety regulators in Southern India

Knowledge and practices of food safety regulators in Southern India Purpose – To assess knowledge, perceptions and practices of grassroots‐level food safety regulators. Design/methodology/approach – Knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) study using quantitative and qualitative methods for data collection. Quantitative data was collected using a pre‐tested knowledge assessment questionnaire. Qualitative data was collected by conducting a focus group discussion (FGD) and six in‐depth interviews among food safety regulators from all 23 districts of the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS package (version 14.5). The FGD and in‐depth interviews' recordings were transcribed verbatim and translated into English before compiling them into individual reports. These reports were read independently by a group of researchers before inferences were drawn. Findings – The respondents' knowledge on basic food microbiology was limited. They attributed their inability to monitor all cases of food poisoning/adulteration to delay in receiving information and lack of laboratory facilities. They had sound knowledge of conventional adulterations, but were not equipped to check newer adulterations. Their knowledge on health/nutrition claims on food labels is almost nil. Orientation towards food safety issues other than adulteration is the need of the hour. Originality/value – The results of the study can serve as the basis for developing an in‐service training module for food safety regulators. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Nutrition & Food Science Emerald Publishing

Knowledge and practices of food safety regulators in Southern India

Download PDF
11 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/knowledge-and-practices-of-food-safety-regulators-in-southern-india-4KWYxpp6pm
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
0034-6659
DOI
10.1108/00346650810862984
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – To assess knowledge, perceptions and practices of grassroots‐level food safety regulators. Design/methodology/approach – Knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) study using quantitative and qualitative methods for data collection. Quantitative data was collected using a pre‐tested knowledge assessment questionnaire. Qualitative data was collected by conducting a focus group discussion (FGD) and six in‐depth interviews among food safety regulators from all 23 districts of the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS package (version 14.5). The FGD and in‐depth interviews' recordings were transcribed verbatim and translated into English before compiling them into individual reports. These reports were read independently by a group of researchers before inferences were drawn. Findings – The respondents' knowledge on basic food microbiology was limited. They attributed their inability to monitor all cases of food poisoning/adulteration to delay in receiving information and lack of laboratory facilities. They had sound knowledge of conventional adulterations, but were not equipped to check newer adulterations. Their knowledge on health/nutrition claims on food labels is almost nil. Orientation towards food safety issues other than adulteration is the need of the hour. Originality/value – The results of the study can serve as the basis for developing an in‐service training module for food safety regulators.

Journal

Nutrition & Food Science – Emerald Publishing

Published: Mar 28, 2008

Keywords: Food safety; Regulation; India

References

  • Some reflections on the administration of food legislation”, in
    Achaya, K.T.
  • Food regulation”, in Food Safety
    Bhat, R.V.; Rao, R.N.
  • The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act and Rules
    Chadha, D.S.
  • Handbook for Excellence in Focus Group Research
    Debus, M.