The impact of individual awareness, attitude & practices on household food safety: A study in Kegalle district

Abstract

Strengthening food safety in household level is a major concern in today’s world. It is arguing that, having an awareness, attitudes on food safety and better hygienic food practices followed by the individual households are important for the healthy life style, as it is directly affecting on the incidences of many diseases prevalent in the society. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the impact of individual awareness, attitude and practices on household food safety by focusing on the Kegalle district. To achieve this objective a quantitative study was undertaken by employing both descriptive and inferential statistics using a household survey. A sample of 90 households were taken from three divisional secretariat divisions in Kegalle district. Data was collected through well-structured questionnaire and analyzed using correlation and regression analysis. Reliability analysis was conducted to measure the validity of the instrument. The descriptive results have shown that response was in a satisfactory level related to awareness (mean of 5.1), attitudes (mean of 4.6) and practices (mean of 5.1). According to the regression results, awareness and practices have significant relationships with the household food safety. However, attitude has not shown significant impact on household food safety. Overall, this study concludes that householders’ awareness and practices have a significant impact on household food safety. Findings of this study will be useful for academics for the development of future works in the field of food safety.