FOOD SAFETY KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE & PRACTICES OF FOOD HANDLERS IN THE DIFFERENT SCHOOL CANTEENS IN SAN JOSE NORTH DISTRICT, OCCIDENTAL MINDORO, PHILIPPINES

ABSTRACT: The study aims to evaluate the food safety knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of foodhandlers from the different elementary school canteens in San Jose North District, Occidental Mindoro.Descriptive research design was employed in this study. It was conducted in the in Murtha, San Jose, OccidentalMindoro on July 2018-January 2019. The respondents were the 25 food handlers in the different canteens insideand outside the elementary schools in San Jose North District, excluding the IP schools. Inform consents weresecured prior to the conduct of the study. Survey was prepared based on validated questionnaires used in similarstudies in other countries (Bas, Temel, Ersun, &Kivanc, 2005; Buccheri et al., 2010; Tokuc et al., 2009).Descriptive statistical tools such as mean and frequency were used in the study.Result shows that the foodhandlers‟ are young with an average age of 36.3 years old, literate with 11 years in formal schooling and have„moderate‟ experience in food handling averaging 6.48 years.Further, they have a “moderate” knowledge levelon food safety. They show a “positive” attitude towards food safety but “seldom practice‟ food safety activities.

Keywords: proper hygiene, hand washing, food handling, food safety, canteens